Favorable clinical outcome and response to immunotherapy share a common PD-L1/PD-1 based NSCLC immune contexture

Pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma with few PD‐1‐positive immune cells and regulatory T cells that showed a complete response to nivolumab

“…In melanoma and anal cancer, high numbers of PD‐1 + tumor‐infiltrating lymphocytes reportedly correlate with the response to PD‐1 inhibitors . However, a recent exploratory study reported an 86% response rate to nivolumab in selected lung cancer patients with tumor cells overexpressing PD‐L1 + and low levels of PD‐1 + tumor‐infiltrating lymphocytes . In a mouse cancer model, the antitumor activity of an anti‐PD‐1 antibody was associated with an increase in intratumoral CD8 + cells weakly positive for PD‐1 .…”

“…8,9 However, a recent exploratory study reported an 86% response rate to nivolumab in selected lung cancer patients with tumor cells overexpressing PD-L1 + and low levels of PD-1 + tumorinfiltrating lymphocytes. 10 In a mouse cancer model, the antitumor activity of an anti-PD-1 antibody was associated with an increase in intratumoral CD8 + cells weakly positive for PD-1. 11 Several in vitro studies using flow cytometry have shown that CD8 + cells that highly express PD-1 release less cytokines and display less cytotoxic activity than cells that weakly express PD-1.…”