Serum PD-1 Levels Change with Immunotherapy Response but Do Not Predict Prognosis in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma
- Author:
Hye Won LEE
1
;
Kyung Joo CHO
;
Soon Young SHIN
;
Ha Yan KIM
;
Eun Ju LEE
;
Beom Kyung KIM
;
Seung Up KIM
;
Jun Yong PARK
;
Do Young KIM
;
Sang Hoon AHN
;
Kwang Hyub HAN
Author Information
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords: Programmed death-ligand 1; Programmed death receptor 1; Prognosis; Hepatocellular carcinoma
- MeSH: Carcinoma, Hepatocellular; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Immunotherapy; Mortality; Prognosis
- From:Journal of Liver Cancer 2019;19(2):108-116
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
- Abstract: BACKGROUND/AIMS: Programmed death receptor 1 (PD-1) is a promising new target for treatment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). A high expression level of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) is a possible prognostic indicator for poor outcome in other malignancies. Here, we investigated the clinical significance of PD-1 and PD-L1 in patients with HCC. METHODS: We enrolled patients with HCC who underwent surgical resection at Severance Hospital between 2012 and 2017 and investigated the levels of PD-L1 in HCC tissues (tPD-L1) and PD-L1/PD-1 in serum (sPD-L1/sPD-1). We also aimed to determine whether expression levels correlated with clinical and histological features. RESULTS: A total of 72 patient samples were analyzed. The median sPD-L1 and sPD-1 levels were 25.72 and 341.44 pg/mL, respectively. A positive correlation was detected between tPD-L1 and sPD-1 levels (R²=0.426, P<0.001). The median sPD-1 level increased linearly with tPD-L1 score (P=0.002). During the follow-up period, HCC recurred in eight (11.1%) patients and liver-related mortality occurred in eight (11.1%) patients. Higher sPD-L1 levels (≥19.18 pg/mL) tended to be associated with liver-related mortality (hazard ratio 6.866; 95% confidence interval, 0.804–58.659, P=0.078). sPD-1 levels of patients treated with nivolumab as a second-line therapy changed serially, and a >50% reduction in sPD-1 levels was observed immediately after nivolumab administration. However, sPD-1 level was not associated directly with prognosis in patients with advanced HCC. CONCLUSIONS: The results demonstrated that PD-L1 and PD-1 levels changed according to the immunotherapy. However, no significant association with clinical outcome in patients with HCC was detected.
