Content of control points of the immunity sPD-1 and sPD-L1 in the blood plasma of ovarian cancer patients

Relevance. In recent years, close attention has been paid to the study of the expression of the PD-1 / PD-L1 signaling pathway in malignant tumors, including ovarian cancer (OC). The low effectiveness of the treatment of OC can be associated with various factors, including the mechanisms of the tumor escaping from the immune response through the PD-1 / PD-L1 immunity checkpoint system. Relatively recently, studies have appeared on the study of soluble forms of PD-1 and its ligands (sPD-1, sPD-L1 / 2) in the blood of cancer patients. These data are beginning to be actively used in an oncology clinic in the treatment of melanoma, renal cell carcinoma, non-small cell lung cancer. Purpose of the study. Analysis of the content of sPD-1 and sPD-L1 in the blood plasma of patients with OC, taking into account the main clinical and morphological characteristics of the disease. Material and methods. We examined 93 patients with OC, 22 with benign ovarian neoplasms, 10 with borderline ovarian tumors, and 35 with healthy women in the control group. In all, an ovarian tumor was detected for the first time and confirmed by histological examination. The concentrations of sPD-L1 and sPD-1 were determined in the blood plasma of patients and healthy women before the start of specific treatment using standard reagent kits for direct enzyme immunoassay Human PD-L1 Platinum ELISA and Human PD-1 ELISA kit (Affymetrix, eBioscience, USA) in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. The reliability of the differences was evaluated using nonparametric tests (Mann-Whitney U-test, Kolmogorov-Smirnov type test). For all statistical tests, p values <0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results. Isolated indicators of sPD-1 and sPD-L1 in blood plasma cannot be used as diagnostic markers of OC. The sPD-1 and sPD-L1 indices are closely related to the main clinical and morphological characteristics of OC: elevated plasma concentrations of sPD-L1 in patients with OC show a statistically significant stage of the disease, are associated with criteria T and M, the presence of metastases in the greater omentum and tumor cells in swabs from the abdominal cavity. Moreover, the degree of differentiation and the histological variant of the tumor structure are not associated with the concentrations of sPD-1 and sPD-L1 in the blood plasma of patients with OC. Unlike sPD-1, sPD-L1 concentrations are directly correlated with the levels of tumor markers CA-125 and HE-4 in the blood plasma of patients with OC. Conclusion. The data presented indicate a close relationship between the levels of sPD-1 and sPD-L1 in the blood plasma of patients with OC with adverse clinical and morphological factors of the disease. Further study of the soluble forms of sPD-1 and sPD-L1 of the PD-1 / PD-L1 signaling pathway in patients with ovarian cancer will reveal their potential role as biomarkers in assessing the prognosis of the disease.

sPD-1, sPD-L1, ovarian cancer, biomarkers, sPD-1, sPD-L1, blood plasma