Table 1.
Clinicopathologic characteristics and PD-L1 expression status of enrolled patients (n = 104)
| Clinicopathological characteristics | Total cases, n (%) | Tumor PD-L1 (pre-neoCRT) | Tumor PD-L1 (post-neoCRT) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High, n (%) | Low, n (%) | p value | High, n (%) | Low, n (%) | p value | NA, n (%) | ||
| 104 (100%) | 53 (51%) | 51 (49%) | 57 (64%) | 32 (36%) | 15 (100%) | |||
| Age | 0.88 | 0.3 | ||||||
| < 65 | 66 (63%) | 34 (64%) | 32 (63%) | 40 (70%) | 19 (59%) | 7 (47%) | ||
| ≥ 65 | 38 (37%) | 19 (36%) | 19 (37%) | 17 (30%) | 13 (41%) | 8 (53%) | ||
| Sex | 0.24 | 0.97 | ||||||
| Female | 33 (32%) | 14 (26%) | 19 (37%) | 18 (32%) | 10 (31%) | 5 (33%) | ||
| Male | 71 (68%) | 39 (74%) | 32 (63%) | 39 (68%) | 22 (69%) | 10 (67%) | ||
| cN stage | 0.56 | 0.42 | ||||||
| Negative | 52 (50%) | 28 (53%) | 24 (47%) | 30 (53%) | 14 (44%) | 8 (53%) | ||
| Positive | 52 (50%) | 25 (47%) | 27 (53%) | 27 (47%) | 18 (56%) | 7 (47%) | ||
| Clinical TNM stage (7th AJCC) | 0.04* | 0.04* | ||||||
| I | 4 (4%) | 3 (6%) | 1 (2%) | 2 (4%) | 2 (6%) | 0 (0%) | ||
| II | 48 (46%) | 25 (47%) | 23 (45%) | 28 (49%) | 12 (38%) | 8 (53%) | ||
| III | 52 (50%) | 25 (47%) | 27 (53%) | 27 (47%) | 18 (56%) | 7 (47%) | ||
| pN stage | 0.32 | 0.57 | ||||||
| Negative | 74 (71%) | 40 (75%) | 34 (67%) | 39 (68%) | 20 (63%) | 15 (100%) | ||
| Positive | 30 (29%) | 13 (25%) | 17 (33%) | 18 (32%) | 12 (38%) | 0 (0%) | ||
| TRG | 0.004* | 0.4 | ||||||
| 4 | 15 (14%) | 6 (11%) | 9 (18%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 15 (100%) | ||
| 3 | 57 (55%) | 32 (60%) | 25 (49%) | 37 (65%) | 20 (63%) | 0 (0%) | ||
| 2 | 23 (22%) | 12 (23%) | 11 (22%) | 16 (28%) | 7 (22%) | 0 (0%) | ||
| 1 | 9 (9%) | 3 (6%) | 6 (12%) | 4 (7%) | 5 (16%) | 0 (0%) | ||
| Clinical response | 0.002* | 0.04* | ||||||
| CR | 15 (14%) | 5 (9%) | 10 (20%) | 1 (2%) | 0 (0%) | 14 (93%) | ||
| PR | 39 (38%) | 22 (42%) | 17 (33%) | 24 (42%) | 14 (44%) | 1 (7%) | ||
| SD | 45 (43%) | 22 (42%) | 23 (45%) | 29 (51%) | 16 (50%) | 0 (0%) | ||
| PD | 5 (5%) | 4 (8%) | 1 (2%) | 3 (5%) | 2 (6%) | 0 (0%) | ||
| Chemotherapy | 0.002* | 0.02* | ||||||
| Capecitabine | 50 (48%) | 30 (57%) | 20 (39%) | 29 (51%) | 15 (47%) | 6 (40%) | ||
| UFT | 38 (37%) | 15 (28%) | 23 (45%) | 20 (35%) | 12 (38%) | 6 (40%) | ||
| 5-FU | 11 (11%) | 6 (11%) | 5 (10%) | 6 (11%) | 4 (13%) | 1 (7%) | ||
| Others | 5 (5%) | 2 (4%) | 3 (6%) | 2 (4%) | 1 (3%) | 2 (13%) | ||
| Local recurrence | 0.1 | 0.13 | ||||||
| Negative | 93 (89%) | 50 (94%) | 43 (84%) | 53 (93%) | 27 (84%) | 13 (87%) | ||
| Positive | 11 (11%) | 3 (6%) | 8 (16%) | 4 (7%) | 5 (16%) | 2 (13%) | ||
| Distant metastasis | 0.04* | 0.62 | ||||||
| Negative | 84 (81%) | 47 (89%) | 37 (73%) | 47 (82%) | 25 (78%) | 12 (80%) | ||
| Positive | 20 (19%) | 6 (11%) | 14 (27%) | 10 (18%) | 7 (22%) | 3 (20%) | ||
| Tumor IFN-γ (pre-neoCRT) | 0.0001* | |||||||
| High | 44 (42%) | 32 (60%) | 12 (24%) | – | – | – | ||
| Low | 60 (58%) | 21 (40%) | 39 (76%) | – | – | – | ||
| Tumor IFN-γ (post-neoCRT) | 0.26 | |||||||
| High | – | – | – | 50 (88%) | 28 (88%) | 0 (0%) | ||
| Low | – | – | – | 7 (12%) | 4 (13%) | 0 (0%) | ||
| NA | – | – | – | 15 (100%) | ||||
| Tumor TGF-β (pre-neoCRT) | 0.3 | |||||||
| High | 62 (70%) | 35 (74%) | 27 (62%) | – | – | – | ||
| Low | 27 (30%) | 12 (26%) | 15 (36%) | – | – | – | ||
| Tumor TGF-β (post-neoCRT) | 0.1 | |||||||
| High | – | – | – | 52 (91%) | 26 (81%) | 0 (0%) | ||
| Low | – | – | – | 5 (9%) | 6 (19%) | 0 (0%) | ||
| NA | – | – | – | 15 (100%) | ||||
| Microsatellite instability (MSI) status | 1.0 | 1.0 | ||||||
| Proficient | 102 (98%) | 52 (98%) | 50 (98%) | 56 (98%) | 31 (97%) | 15 (100%) | ||
| Deficient | 2 (2%) | 1 (2%) | 1 (2%) | 1 (2%) | 1 (3%) | 0 (0%) | ||
Chi-squared test was used. Fisher’s exact test was used when > 25% of the cells had expected counts < 5
The contrast test did not include the “NA” group
*p < 0.05
cN stage positive (stage 1 + 2) vs. negative (stage 0), pN stage positive (stage 1a + 1b + 2) vs. negative (stage 0 + X), CR complete response, PR partial response, SD stable disease, PD progressive disease, tumor PD-L1 high (grade 2 + 3) vs. low (grade 0 + 1), tumor IFN-γ high (grade 2 + 3) vs. low (grade 0 + 1), tumor TGF-β high (grade 2 + 3) vs. low (grade 0 + 1), NA surgical specimen is TRG4 with no residue tumor tissue after neoCRT treatment