ArticleThoracic cancer2021
Association between PD-L1 expression and initial brain metastasis in patients with non-small cell lung cancer and its clinical implications.
Article in Thoracic cancer, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comprehensive Analysis of Lung Cancer Metastasis: Sites, Rates, Survival, and Risk Factors-A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.The clinical respiratory journal · 2025Pooled it
- Efficacy and safety of WBRT+EGFR-TKI versus WBRT only in the treatment of NSCLC patients with brain metastasis: An updated meta-analysis.Thoracic cancer · 2022Pooled it
- Review
- High Programmed Death-Ligand 1 Expression is Associated With a Shorter Progression Free Survival in ALK-Rearranged Lung Cancer Patients Treated With First Line Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors.Clinical lung cancer · 2026Article
- Evaluating the Therapeutic Impact of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in the Management of Brain Metastases from Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.Biomedicines · 2026Review
- Therapeutic advances with KRASCancer gene therapy · 2026Review
- Brain metastases from non-small cell lung cancer: molecular subtypes and emerging CNS-directed precision therapies.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Review
- Immunotherapy in central nervous system tumors.International journal of surgery (London, England) · 2025Review
- Unraveling the molecular-pathological characteristics and cellular complexity of the tumor immune microenvironment in metastatic non-small cell lung cancer.Cell communication and signaling : CCS · 2025Review
- Construction of a nomogram model based on biomarkers for liver metastasis in non-small cell lung cancer.Thoracic cancer · 2024Article
- Fatty acid synthase (FASN) signalome: A molecular guide for precision oncology.Molecular oncology · 2024Article
- Spatial and temporal heterogeneity of tumor immune microenvironment between primary tumor and brain metastases in NSCLC.BMC cancer · 2024Article
- Current status and breakthroughs in treating advanced non-small cell lung cancer with EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Review
- Treatment of brain metastases from non-small cell lung cancer: preclinical, clinical, and translational research.Frontiers in oncology · 2024Review
- [A Real-world Study on the Expression Characteristics of PD-L1 in Patients with Advanced EGFR Positive NSCLC and Its Relationship with the Therapeutic Efficacy of EGFR-TKIs].Zhongguo fei ai za zhi = Chinese journal of lung cancer · 2023Article
- Association between PD-L1 expression and initial brain metastasis in patients with non-small cell lung cancer and its clinical implications.Thoracic cancer · 2021Article
- Article
- Genomic drivers of brain metastases in lung cancer.Neuro-oncology advancesReview
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundBrain metastases frequently occur in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) resulting in a poor prognosis. Here, we investigated the association between PD-L1 expression and brain metastasis in patients with NSCLC and its clinical significance.
methodsA total of 270 patients diagnosed with metastatic NSCLC who underwent PD-L1 testing on their tumor tissue between January 2017 and March 2019 were retrospectively reviewed. The VENTANA PD-L1 (SP263) assay was used, and positive PD-L1 expression was defined as staining in ≥1% of tumor cells.
resultsPositive PD-L1 expression was observed in 181 (67.0%) patients, and 74 (27.4%) patients had brain metastasis at diagnosis. Synchronous brain metastases were more frequently observed in PD-L1-positive compared with PD-L1-negative patients (31.5% vs. 19.1%, p = 0.045). Multiple logistic regression analysis identified positive PD-L1 expression (odds ratio [OR]: 2.24, p = 0.012) as an independent factor associated with synchronous brain metastasis, along with the histological subtype of nonsquamous cell carcinoma (OR: 2.84, p = 0.003). However, the incidence of central nervous system (CNS) progression was not associated with PD-L1 positivity, with a two-year cumulative CNS progression rate of 26.3% and 28.4% in PD-L1-positive and PD-L1-negative patients, respectively (log rank p = 0.944). Furthermore, positive PD-L1 expression did not affect CNS progression or overall survival in patients with synchronous brain metastasis (long rank p = 0.513 and 0.592, respectively).
conclusionsInitial brain metastases are common in NSCLC patients with positive PD-L1 expression. Further studies are necessary to understand the relationship between early brain metastasis and cancer immunity.
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