EGFR-mutated or ALK-rearranged non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) often showed unfavorable clinical benefit to checkpoint inhibitors (CPIs). However, few reports exist with integrated analysis, to interpret the underlying mechanism of poor response to PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors. We have retrospectively analyzed the tumor microenvironment (TME) based on tumor PD-L1 expression and CD8+ T cells infiltration in patients with EGFR mutations and ALK rearrangements, and the prognostic value of TME subtypes on overall survival (OS).
Patients with EGFR mutations or ALK rearrangements exhibited lower PD-L1 and CD8 co-expression level in TME, which could be responsible for poor response to CPIs. PD-L1 and CD8 co-expression in EGFR-mutated or ALK-rearranged lung cancer is a biomarker for poor prognosis with shorter OS. READ ARTICLE
Lung Cancer DOI:10.1016/j.lungcan.2018.09.010
Authors: Si-yang Liu, Zhong-yi Dong, Si-pei Wu, Zhi Xie, Li-xu Yan, Yu-Fa Li, Hong-hong Yan, Jian Su, Jin-Ji Yang, Qing Zhou, Wen-Zhao Zhong, Hai-Yan Tu, Xue-Ning Yang, Xu-Chao Zhang, Yi-Long Wu