Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30564631›Full record

ArticleNPJ breast cancer2018

Association of B7-H4, PD-L1, and tumor infiltrating lymphocytes with outcomes in breast cancer.

Mehmet Altan, Kelley M Kidwell, Vasiliki Pelekanou, Daniel E Carvajal-Hausdorf, Kurt A Schalper, Maria I Toki, Dafydd G Thomas, Michael S Sabel, Daniel F Hayes, David L Rimm

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in NPJ breast cancer, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 42 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
42citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.8field-weighted citation impact, top 11% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

42 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 56 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Immune evasion and resistance in breast cancer.American journal of cancer research · 2025
    Review
  12. Review
  13. Review
  14. Article
  15. Comprehensive Immunogenomic Profiling ofJCO precision oncology · 2024
    Article
  16. Article
  17. From glioma gloom to immune bloom: unveiling novel immunotherapeutic paradigms-a review.Journal of experimental & clinical cancer research : CR · 2024
    Review
  18. Breast Cancer Immunity: It is TIME for the Next Chapter.Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in medicine · 2024
    Review
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Mehmet Altan1Section of Medical Oncology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT USA.
Kelley M Kidwell3Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI USA.
Vasiliki Pelekanou5Department of Pathology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT USA.
Daniel E Carvajal-Hausdorf5Department of Pathology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT USA.
Kurt A Schalper1Section of Medical Oncology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT USA.
Maria I Toki5Department of Pathology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT USA.
Dafydd G Thomas4Breast Oncology Program, University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, MI USA.
Michael S Sabel4Breast Oncology Program, University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, MI USA.
Daniel F Hayes4Breast Oncology Program, University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, MI USA.
David L Rimm1Section of Medical Oncology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT USA.
Yale University · USUniversity of Michigan–Ann Arbor · US

Funding

Yale Pathology Tissue Services Shared ResourceP30CA016359 · NCI · YALE UNIVERSITY · PI DAVID L RIMM · 1985 to 2026
$85.0M
Yale SPORE in Lung Cancer (YSILC): The Biology and Personalized Treatment of Lung CancerP50CA196530 · NCI · YALE UNIVERSITY · PI Shuangge Ma · 2015 to 2026
$31.1M
NCI NIH HHS P30 CA016359NCI NIH HHS P50 CA196530
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

B7-H4 (VTCN1) is a member of the CD28/B7 family of immune co-inhibitory molecules. The relationship of tumor and stromal B7-H4 protein expression with PD-L1, tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and its association with clinico-pathological variables are not well defined. Herein, we explore the expression level of B7-H4 protein in breast cancer and evaluate its association with TILs, levels of PD-L1 expression, and clinico-pathological characteristics in two independent populations. In this study, we used multiplexed automated quantitative immunofluorescence (QIF) to measure the levels of B7-H4 and PD-L1 protein and determined TILs through pathologist assessment of H&E-stained preparations in over a thousand breast cancer cases from two institutions represented in tissue microarray format. Associations between the marker levels, major clinico-pathological variables, and survival were analyzed. We detected B7-H4 protein was highly expressed in both breast cancer and stromal cells. Its expression was independent of breast cancer intrinsic subtypes. PD-L1 expression was higher in triple negative breast cancers. Neither B7-H4 nor PD-L1 were associated with survival in breast cancer. Our study shows there is a mutually exclusive pattern of B7-H4 with both tumor PD-L1 expression and TILs in all breast cancers, independent of breast cancer intrinsic subtype. This exclusive pattern suggests that some breast tumors may preferentially use one B7-related immune evasion mechanism/pathway. This could explain the clinical benefit that is seen only in a fraction of patients with immune checkpoint inhibitors directed exclusively towards PD-L1 in breast cancer.

Identifiers

PMID30564631
PMCPMC6288133
OpenAlexW2903438342

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.