Correlation between PD-L1 expression and MET gene amplification in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer and no other actionable oncogenic driver

• Published in: Oncotarget Vol. 12; no. 18; pp. 1802 - 1810
• Main Authors: Domènech, Marta, Muñoz Marmol, Ana M., Mate, Jose Luis, Estival, Anna, Moran, Teresa, Cucurull, Marc, Saigi, Maria, Hernandez, Ainhoa, Sanz, Carolina, Hernandez-Gallego, Alba, Urbizu, Aintzane, Martinez-Cardus, Anna, Bernat, Adrià, Carcereny, Enric
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Impact Journals LLC 31-08-2021
• Subjects: Research Paper
• ISSN: 1949-2553; 1949-2553
• DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.28045

Non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC) are the most common type of lung cancer and can be classified according to the presence of mutually exclusive oncogenic drivers. The majority of NSCLC patients present a non-actionable oncogenic driver, and treatment resistance through the amplification of the
MET
proto-oncogene
(
MET
) or the expression of programmed cell death protein 1 ligand (PD-L1) is common. Herein, we investigated the relation between
MET
gene amplification and PD-L1 expression in patients with advanced NSCLC and no other actionable oncogenic driver (i.e.,
EGFR
,
ALK
,
ROS1
). Our retrospective observational study analyzed data from 48 patients (78% men, median age 66 years) admitted to the Germans Trias i Pujol Hospital, Spain, between July 2015 and February 2019. Patients presenting
MET
amplification showed a higher proportion of PD-L1 expression (93% vs. 39%;
p
< 0.001) and overexpression (64% vs. 27%;
p
= 0.020) than those with non-amplified
MET
. PD-L1 expression was not significantly different when analyzed by sex (
p
= 0.624), smoking history (
p
= 0.429), and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status (
p
= 0.597) Overall survival rates were not significantly affected by
MET
amplification (high and intermediate amplification vs low amplification and non-amplificated) (
p
= 0.252) nor PD-L1 expression (> vs =< 50%) (
p
= 0.893). In conclusion, a positive correlation was found between
MET
gene amplification and PD-L1 expression and highly expressed (above 50%) in patients with NSCLC and no other actionable oncogenic driver. It could be translated as new guided-treatment oportunities for these patients.