Clinical and prognostic value of antigen‐presenting cells with pd‐l1/pd‐l2 expression in ovarian cancer patients

Abstract

The latest literature demonstrates the predominant role of the programmed cell death axis (PD‐1/PD‐L1/PD‐L2) in ovarian cancer (OC) pathogenesis. However, data concerning this is-sue is ambiguous. Our research aimed to evaluate the clinical importance of PD‐L1/PD‐L2 expression in OC environments. We evaluated the role of PD‐L1/PD‐L2 in OC patients (n = 53). The analysis was performed via flow cytometry on myeloid (mDCs) and plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) and monocytes/macrophages (MO/MA) in peripheral blood, peritoneal fluid (PF), and tumor tissue (TT). The data were correlated with clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of OC patients. The concentration of soluble PD‐L1 (sPD‐L1) and PD‐1 in the plasma and PF were determined by ELISA. We established an accumulation of PD‐L1+ /PD‐L2+ mDCs, pDCs, and MA in the tumor microenvironment. We showed an elevated level of sPD‐L1 in the PF of OC patients in comparison to plasma and healthy subjects. sPD‐L1 levels in PF showed a positive relationship with Ca125 concentration. Moreover, we established an association between higher sPD‐L1 levels in PF and shorter survival of OC patients. An accumulation of PD‐L1+/PD‐L2+ mDCs, pDCs, and MA in the TT and high sPD‐L1 levels in PF could represent the hallmark of immune regulation in OC patients.