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Objectives:

To examine the prognostic impact of the programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression, tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) status, and their combination in esophageal cancer.

Summary Background Data:

PD-L1 has garnered much attention for its roles in tumor immunology and as an immune-based therapeutic target. To ensure a response to PD-L1 checkpoint inhibitor, a new framework based on PD-L1 expression and the presence or absence of TILs is required.

Methods:

Using a nonbiased database of 305 curatively resected esophageal cancers, we evaluated PD-L1 expression and TIL status (cluster of differentiation 8 (CD8) expression) by immunohistochemical analysis. The Cox proportional hazard model was used to compute the hazard ratio (HR) for mortality.

Results:

Compared with PD-L1 negative cases (n= 252), PD-L1 positive cases (n= 53) showed significantly worse overall survival [log-rank …