The evolving role of PD-L1 testing in patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma

Urothelial carcinomas (UC) are immunogenic tumors against which immunotherapeutic approaches have shown substantial clinical benefit [1]. Despite their immunogenicity, tumors can evade the immune system by a variety of means, including altered expression of proteins that act within the programmed cell death 1 (PD-1)/programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) pathway to suppress T-cell antitumor activity [1 –3]. PD-L1 is highly expressed on the surface of activated T cells in response to inflammation or infection, acting as an “immune checkpoint” to maintain self-tolerance and modulate physiological immune responses.

Source: Cancer Treatment Reviews - November 10, 2019 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Thomas Powles, Jill Walker, J. Andrew Williams, Joaquim Bellmunt Tags: Hot Topic Source Type: research