Prognostic and Clinicopathological Significance of PD-L1 in Patients with Cholangiocarcinoma: A Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND: In recent years, there is growing literature on the prognostic significance of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) in cholangiocarcinoma (CCA); however, data have been conflicting. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the correlation between PD-L1 and prognosis in CCA through meta-analysis. METHODS: Published studies were retrieved from the Web of Science, PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library up to April 17, 2020. The relationships between PD-L1 expression and survival outcomes were assessed using hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). RESULTS: Eighteen studies consisting of 2012 patients were included. Overexpression of PD-L1 was significantly associated with worse overall survival (OS) (HR = 1.58, 95%CI = 1.30 − 1.92, p < 0.001) but not with poor disease-free survival (DFS) (HR = 1.03, 95%CI = 0.68 − 1.55, p = 0.895) in CCA. Moreover, PD-L1 was associated with low differentiation (OR = 1.43, 95%CI = 1.09 − 1.87, p = 0.010) and higher pN stage (OR = 1.45, 95%CI = 1.10 − 1.92, p = 0.009) but not with sex, TNM stage, vascular invasion, perineural invasion, age, or tumor size. CONCLUSION: High PD-L1 expression was associated with worse OS, poor differentiation, and higher pN stage in patients with CCA. PD-L1 could be a potential prognostic marker in CCA.