The predictive role of PD-L1 expression and CD8 +TIL levels in determining the neoadjuvant chemotherapy response in advanced ovarian cancer

Q: What is the objective of this study in advanced HGSC?

To determine whether PD-L1 expression and CD8 +TIL levels measured before neoadjuvant chemotherapy can predict chemotherapy response score and survival outcomes.

Q: How were PD-L1 and CD8 + TIL levels measured?

PD-L1 expression and CD8 +TIL levels were evaluated by immunohistochemical staining in pre-NACT tumor samples from patients diagnosed with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer.

Q: Which marker was found to relate to chemotherapy response and survival?

Intratumoral PD-L1 (iPD-L1) expression was associated with differences in PFS and with the distribution of CRS2/CRS3 responses, while stromal PD-L1 (sPD-L1) did not significantly affect PFS and CRS.

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Quinn

Objective To analyze how PD-L1 expression and CD8 + tumor infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) levels in pre-neoadjuvant chemotherapy biopsy samples predict chemotherapy response score and survival in advanced high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSC). Methods A retrospective cohort of 45 patients (2010–2018) received at least three NACT cycles; PD-L1 and CD8 +TILs were assessed by immunohistochemistry on pre-NACT tissue, and chemotherapy response score (CRS) was evaluated on IDS samples. Results iPD-L1 predicted PFS and CRS2/CRS3 distribution. Conclusions iPD-L1 in diagnostic biopsies can predict chemotherapy response during IDS.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages10

Reading Time25 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Objective

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Introduction

Aliyeva et al. Journal of Ovarian Research (2024) 17:234 [https://doi.org/10.1186/s13048-024-01533-x](https://doi.org/10.1186/s13048-024-01533-x) Journal of Ovarian Research RESEARCH Open Access The predictive role of PD-L1 expression and CD8 +TIL levels in determining the neoadjuvant chemotherapy response in advanced ovarian cancer T. Aliyeva 1*, B. Y. Aktas2, F. Gundogdu3, E. Chalabiyev2, Z. Arik2 and A. Usubutun3 Abstract Objective To analyze how the PD-L1 expression and CD8 +tumor infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) levels in biopsy samples before neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) can predict chemotherapy response score and survival for advanced high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSC) . Methods We retrospectively analyzed 45 patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer between 2010 and 2018, who had received at least three cycles of NACT. PD-L1 expression and CD8 + TIL levels were evaluated by immunohistochemical staining in the pre-NAC tumor samples from which the patients had been diagnosed. The post-NACT tissue samples taken during interval debulking surgery (IDS) were used to evaluate the chemotherapy response score (CRS) . Results Among all the patients, CRS 1 (no response) was found in 8 patients, CRS 2 (partial response) in 28 patients, and CRS 3 (complete response) in 9 patients. A total of 20 (44 .4%) patients had high intratumoral CD8 + TILs (iCD8 + TILs) levels, and 35 (77 . 8%) patients had high expression stromal CD8 + TILs (sCD8 + TILs) . No statistically significant relationship was found between high and low expression of i/s CD8 + TILs levels with PFS and CRS. The study found that 33 (73 . 3%) patients had high levels of stromal PD-L1 (sPD-L1) expression and 28 (62 . 2%) patients had high levels of intratumoral PD-L1 (iPD-L1) expression. In the iPD-L1 group, patients with low expression had a PFS of 28 months, whereas those with high expression had a PFS of 17 months (p = 0 . 028) . Among the patients with high iPD-L1 expression, 23 (82 . 1%) patients showed CRS2, 4 (14 . 3%) showed CRS3, and only 1 (3 . 6%) showed CRS1 (p < 0. 001) . However, high or low expression sPD-L1 did not significantly affect PFS and CRS (p = 0.928 and p = 0 . 305; respectively) . Conclusions We found that iPD-L1 expression levels in diagnostic biopsy in ovarian cancer can predict the chemotherapy response score in interval debulking surgery. Keywords Ovarian cancer, Neoadjuvant chemotherapy, PD-L1, TILs, CRS *Correspondence: T. Aliyeva[drturkanaliyeva@gmail.com](drturkanaliyeva@gmail.com) Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © The Author(s) 2024. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.)[.](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.) Aliyeva et al. Journal of Ovarian Research (2024) 17:234 Introduction One of the most common gynecologic cancers is ovarian cancer, which has a high mortality rate. Approximately 75% of patients are diagnosed a

FAQs

What is the objective of this study in advanced HGSC?

To determine whether PD-L1 expression and CD8 +TIL levels measured before neoadjuvant chemotherapy can predict chemotherapy response score and survival outcomes.

How were PD-L1 and CD8 + TIL levels measured?

PD-L1 expression and CD8 +TIL levels were evaluated by immunohistochemical staining in pre-NACT tumor samples from patients diagnosed with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer.

Which marker was found to relate to chemotherapy response and survival?

Intratumoral PD-L1 (iPD-L1) expression was associated with differences in PFS and with the distribution of CRS2/CRS3 responses, while stromal PD-L1 (sPD-L1) did not significantly affect PFS and CRS.

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Quinn