REVIEW   

Minerva Respiratory Medicine 2021 June;60(2):36-51

DOI: 10.23736/S2784-8477.20.01900-8

Copyright © 2020 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

PD-L1 as a prognostic and predictive biomarker in neuroendocrine tumors of the lung: state of the art and future perspectives

Francesca SANGUEDOLCE ¹ ✉, Magda ZANELLI ², Stefano ASCANI ^{3, 4}, Maurizio ZIZZO ^{5, 6}, Simona TORTORELLA ¹, Alessandra SORIANO ⁷, Alfonso FIORELLI ⁸, Giorgia COCCO ⁹, Nicla ARDÒ ¹⁰, Francesco SOLLITTO ¹⁰, Domenico LOIZZI ¹⁰

¹ Unit of Pathology, AOU Ospedali Riuniti of Foggia, Foggia, Italy; ² Unit of Pathology, Azienda USL-IRCCS di Reggio Emilia, Reggio Emilia, Italy; ³ Unit of Pathology, S. Maria Hospital of Terni, Terni, Italy; ⁴ University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy; ⁵ Unit of Surgical Oncology, Azienda USL-IRCCS di Reggio Emilia, Reggio Emilia, Italy; ⁶ Clinical and Experimental Medicine Program, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy; ⁷ Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center, Azienda USL-IRCCS di Reggio Emilia, Reggio Emilia, Italy; ⁸ Unit of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Translational Medicine, Luigi Vanvitelli University of Campania, Naples, Italy; ⁹ Unit of Radiotherapy, AOU Ospedali Riuniti of Foggia, Foggia, Italy; ¹⁰ Institute of Thoracic Surgery, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy

Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) of the lung are a heterogeneous group of neoplasms with different biological and clinical features. Immunotherapy with checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) targeting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis, has been introduced in the last years as a novel treatment option in many cancer types, and results from recent trials showed survival benefit for immunotherapy alone or combined with chemotherapy in high-grade NETs, especially small cell lung cancer (SCC). However, defined biomarkers to select patients who are more likely to benefit from ICIs are currently lacking. On the other hand, there is also significant, although heterogeneous evidence of a prognostic role of PD-L1 status in NETs of the lung. Aim of this review was to summarize the current knowledge about the prognostic and predictive value of PD-L1 expression in NETs of the lung, and to discuss its inherent technical issues and clinical implications.

KEY WORDS: Neuroendocrine tumors; Lung; Biomarkers