ArticleAnnals of surgical oncology2025
Cytotoxic Anti-tumor Drugs and Tumor-Associated Macrophages Synergistically Surge PD-L1 Expression in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma.
Article in Annals of surgical oncology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment and immunotherapy resistance of esophageal carcinoma.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
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Authors and funding
18 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
backgroundProgrammed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression within the tumor microenvironment (TME) is a key predictor of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) efficacy in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Chemotherapy-induced modulation of the TME, particularly through some immune cells including tumor-associated macrophages, may influence PD-L1 expression and impact treatment outcomes. PATIENTS AND
methodsA retrospective analysis was conducted on 241 patients with ESCC, with or without preoperative chemotherapy, who underwent curative esophagectomy at our single institute, Kyushu University. Propensity score matching accounted for clinical factors. Immunohistochemistry evaluated PD-L1, PD-L2, HLA class I, CD8, and CD68 expression. RNA sequencing data from 92 patients with ESCC from the cancer genome atlas underwent TME deconvolution analysis. In vitro experiments utilized ESCC cell lines, THP-1-derived macrophages, and chemotherapeutics (5-fluorouracil, cisplatin, and docetaxel) to explore their effects on PD-L1 expression.
resultsChemotherapy-treated patients showed significantly elevated PD-L1 expression in tumor and interstitial cells. These patients also had increased peritumoral CD68-positive macrophage accumulation, correlating positively with tumor PD-L1 expression. In silico analysis pinpointed polarized macrophages as the primary immune cells linked to PD-L1 upregulation in the TME. In vitro, PD-L1 expression in tumor cells rose post-chemotherapy and further increased when co-cultured with activated macrophages, indicating a synergistic effect.
conclusionsCytotoxic drugs and tumor-associated macrophages surge PD-L1 expression in ESCC, likely through cytokine-mediated pathways. This interaction suggests that integrating cytotoxic chemotherapy with macrophage activation may boost immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) efficacy, offering a viable strategy to optimize immunotherapy in ESCC.
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