PD-L1 Copy Number Variation Does Not Correlate With PD-L1 Expression or Response to Anti-PD-1 Immunotherapy In Patients With Advanced Melanomas

Abstract

Predicting the response to PD-1/PD-L1 immune checkpoint blockade in patients with metastatic melanoma remains challenging. In this study, we have investigated for the relationships between PD-L1 expression, PD-L1 copy number variations, and the response to anti-PD-1 therapies. We studied the formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tumor samples of 36 patients with metastatic melanoma using PD-L1 immunohistochemistry (IHC) and PD-L1/chromosome 9 fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH). PD-L1 IHC was positive in 3 patients (8.33%, with >5% stained tumor cells) and PD-L1 FISH test revealed 5 (13.8%) PD-L1 amplifications, 8 (22.2%) PD-L1 gains, and 2 (5.5%) PD-L1 losses. Among 14 responders and 13 nonresponders to anti-PD-1 immunotherapy, we concluded that there was no significant relationship between PD-L1 expression, PD-L1 copy number variations, and the response to anti-PD-1 therapies. In our study, the determination of PD-L1 expression using IHC and PD-L1 copy number using FISH was insufficient to predict the response to PD-1/PD-L1 immune checkpoint blockade in patients with advanced melanomas.