Fig. 1: Functional PD-1 ligand binding demonstrates a stronger association with anti-PD-1 therapy response compared to CPS.

a Schematic representation of the scientific process for analyzing patient samples (Created with BioRender.com). b Boxplots illustrating different PD-1 ligand scores calculated for individual patients in our cohort (n = 29). c Distribution of the cohort into responders (R) and non-responders (NR) based on CPS status (n = 28). d Survival curves indicating non-significant differences in overall survival time between responders and non-responders (log-rank p = 0.94, n = 28) based on CPS. e Survival curves showing significant differences in overall survival time between responders and non-responders (log-rank p = 0.035, n = 29) based on PD-1 score. f–h Boxplots displaying PD-1, PD-L1, and PD-L2 scores for responders (R) and non-responders (NR), segregated by CPS status. i Dot-plot depicting the relationship between PD-L1 and PD-L2 scores. CPS status is indicated by the shape of the dots: triangles for CPS positive and circles for CPS negative. j. Swimmer plots showing the time from treatment initiation layered by CPS status and PD-1 score; teal = responder, red = non-responder, triangle = beginning of the response, circle = end of the response, line = duration of response, arrow = ongoing response.