Increased PD-L1 and p16 expression are common in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma

Anna Shestakova; Jana Tarabay; Anton Burtsev; Ifegwu Ibe; Jeffrey Kim; Vishal Chandan; William B Armstrong; Tjoa Tjoson; Beverly Wang

doi:10.2144/fsoa-2021-0039

Increased PD-L1 and p16 expression are common in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma

Future Sci OA. 2021 Oct 28;7(9):FSO768. doi: 10.2144/fsoa-2021-0039. eCollection 2021 Oct.

Authors

Anna Shestakova¹, Jana Tarabay², Anton Burtsev³, Ifegwu Ibe², Jeffrey Kim², Vishal Chandan², William B Armstrong⁴, Tjoa Tjoson⁴, Beverly Wang²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pathology, University of Utah and ARUP laboratories, Salt Lake City, UT 84108, USA.
² Department of Pathology, University of California, Irvine, CA 92868, USA.
³ Department of Computer Science, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA.
⁴ Department of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, University of California, Irvine, CA 92868, USA.

Abstract

Overexpression of p16 is closely related to human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and pertains a prognostic relevance. Programmed cell death 1-ligand 1 (PD-L1) is another important marker, as anti-PD-L1 immunotherapy is available. Retrospective analysis of 57 cases of the SCC involving oropharynx (27 cases), hypopharynx (5 cases), larynx (11 cases), and oral cavity (14 cases) was performed. Each case was scrutinized for the basaloid morphology, p16, and PD-L1 expression. Basaloid morphology was identified in 47% of total cases. The majority of basaloid SCC variants were located in the oropharynx (89%). High expression of p16 was mostly observed in the oropharynx. High PD-L1 expression was seen predominantly in oropharyngeal and hypopharyngeal locations. Further studies in a larger cohort are necessary to correlate PD-L1 and p16 expression with survival.

Keywords: hypopharynx; larynx; mouth; oropharynx; papillomaviridae; pembrolizumab; radiation; squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck.