B7-H7 is a prognostic biomarker in epithelial ovarian cancer

Abstract

Background: B7-H7 is a newly identified member of the B7 immune checkpoint family, but has not been investigated in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). This study aimed to determine the B7-H7 expression profile and its potential clinical significance in EOC.Methods: A tissue microarray (TMA) containing 160 ovarian cancer tissues was used in this study and 119 EOC cases were valid for analysis. B7-H7 expression was analyzed separately by multiplex immunohistochemistry (mIHC) staining in different compartment according to tissue segmentation.Correlations of B7-H7 expression and pathological characteristics, including overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS), were explored.Results: Multiplex immunohistochemistry staining showed that B7-H7 was broadly expressed in EOC. B7-H7 expression was significantly higher in the tumor compartment than in stromal compartment of EOC.In EOC tissues, B7-H7 expression in tumor compartment was significantly associated with age (P<0.05); B7-H7 expression in stromal compartment was significantly associated with Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology (FIGO) stage, lymph nodes metastasis, distant metastasis, and OS (all, P<0.05). The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed that high B7-H7 expression in stromal compartment was significantly correlated with the poor OS of EOC patients (P<0.05), but B7-H7 expression in tumor compartment was not.Conclusions: Stromal B7-H7 expression is significantly associated with tumor progression and prognosis in EOC patients, which might be a prognostic predictor and a potential therapeutic target.

Prognostic value of HHLA2 expression in solid tumors

“…All of these studies were published between 2018 and 2020, and all the patients included in these studies were from China. They consisted of the following cancer types: clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), [ 13 , 19 ] gastric cancer (GC), [ 17 , 18 ] epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), [ 9 , 26 ] pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), [ 23 , 24 ] oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), [ 25 ] intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC), [ 20 ] lung adenocarcinoma, [ 21 ] lung squamous cell carcinoma, [ 21 ] and colorectal cancer (CRC). [ 22 ] The sample sizes ranged from 63 to 403, with a total of 1747 patients.…”

“…[ 6 – 8 ] However, the response rate of anti-PD-1 and anti-CTLA4 antibody therapy is rather low in some types of cancer. [ 9 – 12 ] Hence, the development of other immune checkpoint molecules for immunotherapy to improve the survival rate of cancer patients is urgently required.…”

“…Several checkpoint inhibitors have been extensively studied for cancer treatment, and some have been used in clinical trials in cancer patients, such as antibodies against cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen-4 (CTLA-4), programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1), or its ligand PD-L1 [6–8] . However, the response rate of anti-PD-1 and anti-CTLA4 antibody therapy is rather low in some types of cancer [9–12] . Hence, the development of other immune checkpoint molecules for immunotherapy to improve the survival rate of cancer patients is urgently required.…”

“…some types of cancer. [9][10][11][12] Hence, the development of other immune checkpoint molecules for immunotherapy to improve the survival rate of cancer patients is urgently required.…”

“…[13,[17][18][19][20][21][22] However, the prognostic significance of HHLA2 is inconclusive. [9,[23][24][25][26] Thus, we performed this meta-analysis to investigate the association between HHLA2 protein expression and prognosis in patients with cancer.…”