Expression of programmed death ligand-1 predicts poor outcome in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) is a potentially important tumor immunotherapy target. However, whether PD-L1 expression is associated with survival in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) remains controversial. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between PD-L1 expression and prognosis in NPC. The expression of PD-L1 was assessed in tumor specimens from 120 patients with NPC using immunohistochemistry. Staining was evaluated using the H-score method. The associations between PD-L1 expression and clinical characteristics and prognosis were analyzed. Overall, 78% of the patients had stage I–III and 22% had stage IV disease. The estimated 5-year overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) rates for the entire cohort were 87.5 and 70.1%, respectively. PD-L1 expression was detected in 85 (71%) patients and was localized to the tumor cells. High tumor expression of PD-L1 (median H-score ≥5) was associated with significantly poorer OS (P=0.023) and DFS (P=0.002). Univariate analysis indicated that low PD-L1 expression was associated with better DFS compared with high PD-L1 expression (HR=0.163, 95% CI: 0.044–0.600, P=0.006 for DFS). Multivariate analysis revealed that T stage (HR=8.190, 95% CI: 1.355–18.152; P=0.023) and PD-L1 expression level (HR=0.124, 95% CI: 0.031–0.509; P=0.001) served as independent prognostic factors for DFS. In conclusion, tumor PD-L1 expression was found to be a significant prognostic factor in NPC, and high PD-L1 expression may be of prognostic value for recurrence and metastasis following conventional treatments.