Maria Svensson, MD, Lund University, discusses the associations of PD-1 and PD-L1 expression with mismatch repair (MMR) status and prognosis in chemoradiotherapy-naïve esophageal and gastric adenocarcinoma during the 2018 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.

In a study of patients with resectable esophageal and gastric cancer, investigators sought to examine the expression of PD-L1 in tumor cells and tumor-infiltrating immune cells, and the receptor PD-1 as it relates to MMR status.

Results showed that PD-1 expression was not associated with MMR status, Svensson says. Although, the expression of PD-L1 in both tumor cells and tumor-infiltrating immune cells was significantly associated with MMR deficiency (P < .001 for both). Neither PD-L1 expression or MMR status in tumor cells was prognostic, whereas high PD-1 expression (10%) in tumor infiltrating immune cells was associated with prolonged overall survival (P = .012), Svennsson adds.

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