assessment of programmed cell death protein 1 and programmed cell death ligand 1 expression in gestational trophoblastic neoplasia: implications for anti-pd1 drug therapy

Background & objective: this study was done to assess the levels of programmed cell death 1 (pd-1) and its ligands (pd-l1) expression in gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (gtn) to determine the outcome of prescribing anti pd-1 drugs in trophoblastic tumors. materials & methods: this study was conducted in the gynecology oncology clinic of mashhad medical science university in the north-east of iran during 2012-2022. the patients were divided into two groups consisting of low-risk and high-risk groups based on their international federation of gynecology and obstetrics (figo) score, and subsequently their response to the chemotherapy was evaluated. we scored pd-l1 staining in tumor cells using a 4-point scoring system and evaluated pdl-1 expression using the allered total score (ats). results: 52 gtn patients with a mean age of 27 were undergone in our study between. out of all the patients in our study, 47 and 5 patients were diagnosed with molar pregnancy and choriocarcinoma, respectively. the patients with molar pregnancy were also sub grouped into 22 (42.3%) patients and 25 (48.1%) patients with complete hydatidiform mole (chm) and partial hydatidiform mole (phm). the results of pdl-1 staining intensity showed 3 (5.8%), 12 (23.1%), 27 (51.9%), and 10 (19.2%) were no, weak, moderate, and strong staining, respectively.conclusion: the findings of this present study indicated that the high-level pd-l1 expression in most of our patients. seem to suggest the potential use of immune checkpoint inhibition as a treatment option for trophoblastic tumors, which deserves further comprehensive study through clinical trials.