The value of programmed death ligand 1 expression in cancer patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy

الملخص EN

Programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) is an inhibitory molecule expressed by cancer cells to supress T-cell activity and escape anti-tumour immunity.

The role of PD-L1 in cancer has been studied extensively as it is considered an important immune checkpoint against immune over-activation through its interaction with Programmed death receptor 1 (PD-1) expressed on activated lymphocytes.

PD-L1 expression was found to be enhanced by chemotherapy through different proliferation pathways.

However, the predictive and prognostic value for PD-L1 expression in cancer patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) is not yet established.

This review focused on the potential effects of chemotherapy on PD-L1 expression and the role of PD-L1 as a prognostic and predictive marker in NAC-treated cancer patients.

In addition, the potential use of this marker in clinical practice is discussed.