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Hiss S, Eckstein M, Segschneider P, Mantsopoulos K, Iro H, Hartmann A, Agaimy A, Haller F, Mueller SK. Tumour-Infiltrating Lymphocytes (TILs) and PD-L1 Expression Correlate with Lymph Node Metastasis, High-Grade Transformation and Shorter Metastasis-Free Survival in Patients with Acinic Cell Carcinoma (AciCC) of the Salivary Glands. Cancers (Basel) 2021; 13:cancers13050965. [PMID: 33669038 PMCID: PMC7956490 DOI: 10.3390/cancers13050965] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2021] [Revised: 02/12/2021] [Accepted: 02/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to assess the number of tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and the expression of Programmed Cell Death 1 Ligand 1 (PD-L1) in Acinic Cell Carcinoma (AciCC) of the salivary glands, to enable a correlation with clinico-pathological features and to analyse their prognostic impact. METHODS This single centre retrospective study represents a cohort of 36 primary AciCCs with long-term clinical follow-up. Immunohistochemically defined immune cell subtypes, i.e., those expressing T-cell markers (CD3, CD4 and CD8) or a B-cell marker (CD20) were characterized on tumour tissue sections. The number of TILs was quantitatively evaluated using software for digital bioimage analysis (QuPath). PD-L1 expression on the tumour cells and on immune cells was assessed immunohistochemically employing established scoring criteria: tumour proportion score (TPS), Ventana immune cell score (IC-Score) and combined positive score (CPS). RESULTS Higher numbers of tumour-infiltrating T- and B-lymphocytes were significantly associated with high-grade transformation. Furthermore, higher counts of T-lymphocytes correlated with node-positive disease. There was a significant correlation between higher levels of PD-L1 expression and lymph node metastases as well as the occurrence of high-grade transformation. Moreover, PD-L1 CPS was associated with poor prognosis regarding metastasis-free survival (p = 0.049). CONCLUSIONS The current study is the first to demonstrate an association between PD-L1 expression and lymph node metastases as well as grading in AciCCs. In conclusion, increased immune cell infiltration of T and B cells as well as higher levels of PD-L1 expression in AciCC in association with high-grade transformation, lymph node metastasis and unfavourable prognosis suggests a relevant interaction between tumour cells and immune cell infiltrates in a subset of AciCCs, and might represent a rationale for immune checkpoint inhibition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Selina Hiss
- Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Krankenhausstr. 8-10, 91054 Erlangen, Germany; (S.H.); (M.E.); (P.S.); (A.H.); (A.A.)
| | - Markus Eckstein
- Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Krankenhausstr. 8-10, 91054 Erlangen, Germany; (S.H.); (M.E.); (P.S.); (A.H.); (A.A.)
| | - Patricia Segschneider
- Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Krankenhausstr. 8-10, 91054 Erlangen, Germany; (S.H.); (M.E.); (P.S.); (A.H.); (A.A.)
| | - Konstantinos Mantsopoulos
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery, University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Waldstrasse 1, 91054 Erlangen, Germany; (K.M.); (H.I.); (S.K.M.)
| | - Heinrich Iro
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery, University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Waldstrasse 1, 91054 Erlangen, Germany; (K.M.); (H.I.); (S.K.M.)
| | - Arndt Hartmann
- Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Krankenhausstr. 8-10, 91054 Erlangen, Germany; (S.H.); (M.E.); (P.S.); (A.H.); (A.A.)
| | - Abbas Agaimy
- Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Krankenhausstr. 8-10, 91054 Erlangen, Germany; (S.H.); (M.E.); (P.S.); (A.H.); (A.A.)
| | - Florian Haller
- Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Krankenhausstr. 8-10, 91054 Erlangen, Germany; (S.H.); (M.E.); (P.S.); (A.H.); (A.A.)
- Correspondence:
| | - Sarina K. Mueller
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery, University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Waldstrasse 1, 91054 Erlangen, Germany; (K.M.); (H.I.); (S.K.M.)
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