Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38893222›Full record

ArticleCancers2024

Standardized Digital Image Analysis of PD-L1 Expression in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Reveals Intra- and Inter-Sample Heterogeneity with Therapeutic Implications.

Eric Deuss, Cornelius Kürten, Lara Fehr, Laura Kahl, Stefanie Zimmer, Julian Künzel, Roland H Stauber, Stephan Lang, Timon Hussain, Sven Brandau

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Cancers, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
11citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. SEOM-TTCC clinical guidelines for the treatment of head and neck cancer (2025).Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2026
    Guideline
  2. Phase I/II Study of the Aurora Kinase A Inhibitor Alisertib and Pembrolizumab in Refractory, Rb-Deficient Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinomas.Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research · 2025
    Trial
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Eric DeussDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospital Essen, 45147 Essen, Germany.ORCID 0000-0003-4213-0797
Cornelius KürtenDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospital Essen, 45147 Essen, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-2720-0075
Lara FehrDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospital Essen, 45147 Essen, Germany.ORCID 0009-0005-4110-306X
Laura KahlDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospital Essen, 45147 Essen, Germany.
Stefanie ZimmerInstitute of Pathology, University Medical Center Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-3784-2063
Julian KünzelDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Molecular and Cellular Oncology, University Medical Center Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany.
Roland H StauberDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Molecular and Cellular Oncology, University Medical Center Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany.
Stephan LangDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospital Essen, 45147 Essen, Germany.
Timon HussainDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospital Essen, 45147 Essen, Germany.
Sven BrandauDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospital Essen, 45147 Essen, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-2702-4163

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

For practical reasons, in many studies PD-L1 expression is measured by combined positive score (CPS) from a single tumor sample. This does not reflect the heterogeneity of PD-L1 expression in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). We investigated the extent and relevance of PD-L1 expression heterogeneity in HNSCC analyzing primary tumors and recurrences (LRs), as well as metastases. Tumor tissue from 200 HNSCC patients was immunohistochemically stained for PD-L1 and analyzed using image-analysis software QuPath v3.4 with multiple specimens per patient. CPS was ≥20 in 25.6% of primary tumors. Intra-tumoral heterogeneity led to a therapeutically relevant underestimation of PD-L1 expression in 28.7% of patients, when only one specimen per patient was analyzed. Inter-tumoral differences in PD-L1 expression between primary tumors and lymph node metastasis (LNM) or LR occurred in 44.4% and 61.5% (CPS) and in 40.6% and 50% of cases (TPS). Overall survival was increased in patients with CPS ≥ 1 vs. CPS < 1 in primary tumors and LNM (hazard ratio: 0.46 and 0.35;

Indexed as

biomarkercombined positivity score (CPS)head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC)heterogeneityHPVoropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC)p16prognosisprogrammed cell death 1 Ligand 1 (PD-L1)tumor proportion score (TPS)

Identifiers

PMID38893222
PMCPMC11171694

What Socratic holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.