Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37804360›Full record

ArticleClinical and experimental medicine2023

Diagnostic biopsy does not accurately reflect the PD-L1 expression in triple-negative breast cancer.

Marek Zdrenka, Adam Kowalewski, Jędrzej Borowczak, Joanna Łysik-Miśkurka, Hanna Andrusewicz, Tomasz Nowikiewicz, Łukasz Szylberg

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Clinical and experimental medicine, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed
2.1field-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

8 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Peripheral TNF-α and CD8Breast cancer (Dove Medical Press) · 2025
    Article
  6. Review
  7. Article
  8. 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

7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Marek ZdrenkaDepartment of Tumor Pathology and Pathomorphology, Oncology Center, Prof. Franciszek Łukaszczyk Memorial Hospital, Bydgoszcz ul. Romanowska, 85-796, Bydgoszcz, Poland.
Adam KowalewskiDepartment of Tumor Pathology and Pathomorphology, Oncology Center, Prof. Franciszek Łukaszczyk Memorial Hospital, Bydgoszcz ul. Romanowska, 85-796, Bydgoszcz, Poland.
Jędrzej BorowczakDepartment of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Oncology, Chair of Pathomorphology, Placentology, and Clinical Hematopathology, Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Torun, Poland.
Joanna Łysik-MiśkurkaDepartment of Tumor Pathology and Pathomorphology, Oncology Center, Prof. Franciszek Łukaszczyk Memorial Hospital, Bydgoszcz ul. Romanowska, 85-796, Bydgoszcz, Poland.
Hanna AndrusewiczDepartment of Tumor Pathology and Pathomorphology, Oncology Center, Prof. Franciszek Łukaszczyk Memorial Hospital, Bydgoszcz ul. Romanowska, 85-796, Bydgoszcz, Poland.
Tomasz NowikiewiczClinical Department of Breast Cancer and Reconstructive Surgery, Oncology Center, Prof. Franciszek Łukaszczyk Memorial Hospital, Bydgoszcz, Poland.
Łukasz SzylbergDepartment of Tumor Pathology and Pathomorphology, Oncology Center, Prof. Franciszek Łukaszczyk Memorial Hospital, Bydgoszcz ul. Romanowska, 85-796, Bydgoszcz, Poland. l.szylberg@cm.umk.pl.
University of Bydgoszcz · PLNicolaus Copernicus University · PL

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

PD-L1 expression is known to predict the benefits of immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). We examined whether the PD-L1 expression evaluated in biopsy specimens accurately reflects its expression in the whole tumor. Immunohistochemistry was performed on 81 biopsy and resection specimens from patients with TNBC to determine their PD-L1 status. We found PD-L1-positive tumors in 23 (28%) biopsy specimens and primarily PD-L1-negative tumors in 58 (72%). The PD-L1 status was reevaluated in matching postoperative specimens of primarily PD-L1-negative tumors. Of them, 31% (18/58) were positive, whereas 69% (40/58) were negative. Considering the pre- and postoperative analyses, 41 (51%) patients had PD-L1-positive tumors, while 40 had PD-L1-negative tumors. We found 18 (22%) more PD-L1-positive tumors while examining the resection specimens compared to biopsies, and the difference was statistically significant (p = 0.0038). Diagnostic biopsies do not fully reflect the PD-L1 expression in TNBC. Our results suggest that a significant subset of TNBC patients may be misclassified as PD-L1-negative and disqualified from anti-PD-L1 therapy.

Indexed as

Triple Negative Breast NeoplasmsB7-H1 AntigenBiopsyHumansImmunohistochemistryB7-H1 AntigenCancerDiagnosisPathologyPD-L1Triple-negative breast cancer

Identifiers

PMID37804360
PMCPMC10725333
OpenAlexW4387424367

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.