ArticleJournal of clinical pathology2025
PD-L1 expression in recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma in China (EXCEED study): a multicentre retrospective study.
Article in Journal of clinical pathology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 7 citations in OpenAlex.
- Article
- Efficacy of Pembrolizumab as a Second- or Third-Line Therapy in Recurrent or Metastatic Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Multicenter Retrospective Study in Vietnamese Patients.Clinical Medicine Insights. Oncology · 2026Article
- The immune microenvironment of HPV-associated cancers: from viral oncogenesis to immunotherapy response.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- CircRNAs: functions and emerging roles in cancer and immunotherapy.BMC medicine · 2025Review
- Combination of immunotherapy-based systemic therapy and radiotherapy achieves durable response and favorable survival in recurrent head and neck cancer.Therapeutic advances in medical oncology · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
16 authors at 7 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
aimsProgrammed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) is known to be highly expressed in various malignancies, including head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). We aimed to determine the prevalence of PD-L1 expression in recurrent or metastatic HNSCC (R/M HNSCC) among Chinese patients.
methodsThis multicentre, retrospective analysis of data from six centres in China included patients with R/M HNSCC treated from 9 August 2021 to 28 February 2022. PD-L1 expression in tumour tissue was assessed and represented using a combined positive score (CPS). The χ
resultsFor all 402 examined patients with R/M HNSCC, 168 cases (41.8%) had PD-L1 expression with a CPS ≥20, and 337 cases (83.8%) had PD-L1 expression with a CPS ≥1. Between the PD-L1 CPS ≥20 group and PD-L1 CPS <20 group, statistically significant differences were observed for variables of sex (p<0.001), smoking habit (p=0.0138 for non-smokers vs current smokers) and primary tumour site (p<0.001 for hypopharynx vs oral cavity and p=0.0304 for larynx vs oral cavity, respectively).
conclusionPD-L1 with CPS ≥20 was expressed in about 41.8% of cases with R/M HNSCC among Chinese patients, and PD-L1 expression was significantly associated with sex, smoking history and primary tumour site. Our findings regarding the variables related to PD-L1 expression level provide insight for clinical practice and a solid basis for future research on immunotherapy in HNSCC. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN10570964.
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