
Novel circulating tumor cell-based blood test for the assessment of PD-L1 protein expression in treatment-naïve, newly diagnosed patients with non-…
Authors of this article are:
Chen YL, Huang WC, Lin FM, Hsieh HB, Hsieh CH, Hsieh RK, Chen KW, Yen MH, Lee J, Su S, Marfatia T, Chang SE, Sundar P, Patterson B, Watson D, Mei R, Javey M.
A summary of the article is shown below:
We evaluated the analytical and clinical performance of a novel circulating tumor cell (CTC)-based blood test for determination of programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) protein expression status in real time in treatment-naïve non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. CTCs were detected in 86% of patients with NSCLC (I-IV) at the time of diagnosis, with a 67% PD-L1 positivity rate (≥ 1 PDL + CTC). Among 33 NSCLC patients with PD-L1 results available via both tissue immunohistochemistry (IHC) and CTC assays, 78.9% were positive according to both methods. The CTC test identified an additional ten cases that were positive for PD-L1 expression but that tested negative via IHC analysis. Detection of higher PD-L1 expression on CTCs compared to that in the corresponding tissue was concordant with data obtained using other platforms in previously treated patients. The concordance in PD-L1 expression between tissue and CTCs was approximately 57%, which is higher than that reported by others. In summary, evaluation of PD-L1 protein expression status on CTCs isolated from NSCLC patients is feasible. PD-L1 expression status on CTCs can be determined serially during the disease course, thus overcoming the myriad challenges associated with tissue analysis.
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This article is a good source of information and a good way to become familiar with topics such as: Checkpoint inhibitor therapy; Circulating tumor cells; Liquid biopsy; Non-small cell lung cancer; PD-L1 expression.