Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30972492›Full record

ArticleJournal of cancer research and clinical oncology2019

Clinical impact of PD-L1 and PD-1 expression in squamous cell cancer of the vulva.

Fabinshy Thangarajah, Bernd Morgenstern, Caroline Pahmeyer, Lars Mortimer Schiffmann, Julian Puppe, Peter Mallmann, Stefanie Hamacher, Reinhard Buettner, Christina Alidousty, Barbara Holz and 2 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of cancer research and clinical oncology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
24citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
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

24 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Guideline
  3. A Phase II Basket Trial of Dual Anti-CTLA-4 and Anti-PD-1 Blockade in Rare Tumors SWOG S1609: Vulvar Cancers.Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research · 2025
    Trial
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  5. Journal of clinical medicine · 2023
    Article
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  18. Looking past PD-L1: expression of immune checkpoint TIM-3 and its ligand galectin-9 in cervical and vulvar squamous neoplasia.Modern pathology : an official journal of the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology, Inc · 2020
    Article
  19. CD274 (PD-L1), CDKN2A (p16), TP53, and EGFR immunohistochemical profile in primary, recurrent and metastatic vulvar cancer.Modern pathology : an official journal of the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology, Inc · 2020
    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

12 authors.

Fabinshy ThangarajahDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Medical Faculty, University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Kerpener Str. 34, 50931, Cologne, Germany. Fabinshy.Thangarajah@uk-koeln.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1458-7303
Bernd MorgensternDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Medical Faculty, University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Kerpener Str. 34, 50931, Cologne, Germany.
Caroline PahmeyerDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Medical Faculty, University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Kerpener Str. 34, 50931, Cologne, Germany.
Lars Mortimer SchiffmannDepartment of General, Visceral and Cancer Surgery, University of Cologne, Kerpener Straße 62, 50937, Cologne, Germany.
Julian PuppeDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Medical Faculty, University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Kerpener Str. 34, 50931, Cologne, Germany.
Peter MallmannDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Medical Faculty, University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Kerpener Str. 34, 50931, Cologne, Germany.
Stefanie HamacherInstitute of Medical Statistics and Computational Biology, University Hospital Cologne, Kerpener Straße 62, 50937, Cologne, Germany.
Reinhard BuettnerDepartment of Pathology, University Hospital of Cologne, Institute of Pathology, Kerpener Str. 62, 50937, Cologne, Germany.
Christina AlidoustyDepartment of Pathology, University Hospital of Cologne, Institute of Pathology, Kerpener Str. 62, 50937, Cologne, Germany.
Barbara HolzDepartment of Pathology, University Hospital of Cologne, Institute of Pathology, Kerpener Str. 62, 50937, Cologne, Germany.
Andreas H ScheelDepartment of Pathology, University Hospital of Cologne, Institute of Pathology, Kerpener Str. 62, 50937, Cologne, Germany.
Anne Maria SchultheisDepartment of Pathology, University Hospital of Cologne, Institute of Pathology, Kerpener Str. 62, 50937, Cologne, Germany. Anne.Schultheis@uk-koeln.de.

Funding

Else Kröner-Fresenius-Stiftung 2016 Kolleg.19Else Kröner-Fresenius-Stiftung EKFS-2014-A06
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeSquamous cell carcinoma of the vulva (SQCV) is the fifth most common cancer in women and accounts for about 5% of all genital cancers in women. The PD-L1 signaling pathway is activated in many malignant neoplasms and its blockade enhances anti-cancer immunity. The aim of our study was to examine the protein expression of PD-L1 and PD-1 in squamous cell cancer of the vulva, its correlations with clinicopathologic features and prognostic value.

methodsPatients with SQCV treated in one institution were used for the analyses. PD-L1 immunohistochemistry was performed on 4 µm-thick section of the respective FFPE tissue blocks using the 28-8 antibody. PD-L1 scoring was performed separately for tumour cells (TC) and tumour associated immune cells. DNA was extracted to determine HPV status. Kaplan-Meier estimates for disease-free-survival and overall-survival were calculated and compared by log-rank test.

resultsPD-L1 expression in tumour cells could be observed in 32.9% of the patients. The expression of PD-L1 in peritumoural immune cells was confirmed in 91.4% of the patients. A significant correlation between PD-L1 expression in tumour cells and tumour stage was detected (p = 0.007). PD-L1 expression was independent from HPV status. Using the log-rank test we could not prove any significant differences in disease-free survival (p = 0.434) and overall survival (p = 0.858). Regression analysis showed that nodal status is a predictive factor of survival (p < 0.001).

conclusionThe present study showed that a relevant amount of patients with squamous cell cancer of the vulva express PD-L1 in both, tumour cells and tumour-associated immune cells. Furthermore, the significant correlation of PD-L1 expression in TCs with tumour stage indicated the clinical impact of PD-L1 expression during tumour development. These data indicate that SQCV might be amenable to immune checkpoint-inhibition and constitute a rational for the future clinical trials.

Indexed as

AgedB7-H1 AntigenBiomarkers, TumorCarcinoma, Squamous CellFemaleHumansImmunohistochemistryMiddle AgedNeoplasm StagingPrognosisProgrammed Cell Death 1 ReceptorVulvar NeoplasmsB7-H1 AntigenBiomarkers, TumorCD274 protein, humanPDCD1 protein, humanProgrammed Cell Death 1 ReceptorHPVPD-1PD-L1Vulvar carcinoma

Identifiers

PMID30972492
PMCPMC11810248

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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.