A Clinico-Epidemiological Study of Tumour PD-LI Status in Breast Cancer

Abstract Introduction: Breast cancer continues to be the most common malignancy among women globally and represents a significant cause of cancer-related mortality. Its heterogeneity, encompassing diverse molecular subtypes and clinical behaviors, poses considerable challenges in diagnosis, prognostication, and treatment selection. Aims: To investigate the expression of PD-L1 and its association, if any, with the prognosis of breast carcinoma of a patient. Materials and Methods: The present study was an institution based descriptive, cross-sectional and observational study. This Study was conducted fromJanuary 2020 to June 2021 at Medical College & Hospital, Kolkata. Total 52 patients were included in this study. Result: In our study of 52 breast carcinoma patients, PD-L1 expression was not significantly associated with age, socioeconomic status, pain, ulceration, or tumor size. Invasive ductal carcinoma was the predominant subtype (78.8%), followed by lobular (17.3%) and medullary carcinoma (3.8%). A strong association was observed between PD-L1 positivity and HER2 expression, as 75% of HER2-positive cases were PD-L1 positive. Importantly, PD-L1 positivity was linked to more aggressive disease features, including significantly higher nodal involvement (mean 10.88 vs. 4.75, p < 0.0001) and increased distant metastasis, particularly to the lung (31.3%) and bone (12.5%). Conclusion: In conclusion, our study demonstrated that PD-L1 expression in breast carcinoma was not significantly influenced by age, socioeconomic status, tumor size, pain, or ulceration. However, important clinicopathological correlations were noted. PD-L1 expression showed a strong association with HER2 positivity, suggesting a potential link between these biomarkers.