Ovarian clear cell carcinoma (OCCC), a chemoresistant ovarian cancer, shows a modest response to anti-programmed death-1/programmed death ligand-1 (PD-1/PD-L1) therapies. The effects of anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapies rely on cytotoxic T-cell response, which is triggered by antigen presentation mediated by major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I. The loss of MHC class I with simultaneous PD-L1 expression has been noted in several cancer types; however, these findings and their prognostic value have rarely been evaluated in OCCC.
We collected data from 76 patients with OCCC for clinicopathologic analysis. Loss of MHC class I expression was seen in 44. 7% of the cases including 39. 3% to 47. 4% of the PD-L1 + cases and was associated with fewer CD8 + tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs). PD-L1 positivity was associated with a higher number of CD8 + TILs. Cox proportional hazard models showed that high (≥50/mm 2 ) CD8 + TILs was associated with shorter disease-specific survival (hazard ratio [HR]=3. 447, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1. 222-9. 720, P =0. 019) and overall survival (HR=3.
053, 95% CI: 1. 105-8. 43, P =0. 031). PD-L1 positivity using Combined Positive Score was associated with shorter progression-free survival (HR=3. 246, 95% CI: 1. 435-7. 339, P =0. 005), disease-specific survival (HR=4. 124, 95% CI: 1. 403-12. 116, P =0. 010), and overall survival (HR=4. 489, 95% CI: 1. 553-12. 972, P =0. 006). Loss of MHC class I may contribute to immune evasion and resistance to anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapies in OCCC, and CD8 + TILs and PD-L1 positivity using Combined Positive Score may have a negative prognostic value.