PD-1 axis expression in musculoskeletal tumors and antitumor effect of nivolumab in osteosarcoma model of humanized mouse

BACKGROUND: Immune checkpoint inhibitors have led to a breakthrough in solid tumor immunotherapy, but related studies on musculoskeletal tumors are few, especially for PD-L2. METHODS: We examined expression of three molecular effectors of the PD-1 axis in 234 patients with musculoskeletal tumors, including osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, synovial sarcoma, and giant cell tumor. Survival analyses and potential mechanisms were investigated in osteosarcoma per the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and immunohistochemistry analyses. In vivo, humanized mice were used to evaluate the effect of nivolumab on osteosarcoma. RESULTS: PD-L1, PD-L2, and PD-1 expression levels were significantly different between the histologic types of the musculoskeletal tumors. For osteosarcoma, PD-L1 was negatively correlated with prognosis, while PD-1 had a negative correlation tendency with overall survival (OS). Meanwhile, PD-L2 had a positive correlation trend with OS. Nivolumab inhibited osteosarcoma metastasis in humanized mice by increasing CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes and the cytolytic activity of CD8 lymphocytes in the lung but did not affect primary osteosarcoma growth. CONCLUSION: We systematically detected the expression patterns of PD-L1, PD-L2, and PD-1 in musculoskeletal tumors for the first time and demonstrated the prognostic roles and underlying mechanisms of PD-1 axis in osteosarcoma. Furthermore, PD-1 blockade could effectively control osteosarcoma pulmonary metastasis in vivo. Therefore, the PD-1 axis may be a potential immunotherapeutic target for metastatic osteosarcoma. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s13045-018-0560-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.