Indonesian Journal of Biomedicine and Clinical Sciences
Vol 58 No 3 (2026)

The association between PD-L1 expression and the survival rate of patients with undifferentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Indrawati (Department of Anatomical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia/Sardjito General Hospital, Yogyakarta, Indonesia)
Auliya Suluk Brilliant Sumpono (Department of Anatomical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia/Sardjito General Hospital, Yogyakarta, Indonesia)
Vivin Febriani (Department of Anatomical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia)
Kartika Widyawati Taroeno-Hariadi (Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia/Sardjito General Hospital, Yogyakarta, Indonesia)
Sagung Rai Indrasari (Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia/Sardjito General Hospital, Yogyakarta, Indonesia)
Camelia Herdini (Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia)
Rheza Gandi Bawono (Department of Anatomical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia)
Ery Kus Dwianingsih (Department of Anatomical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia/Sardjito General Hospital, Yogyakarta, Indonesia)



Article Info

Publish Date
16 Jul 2026

Abstract

Programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1) plays a key role in tumor immune evasion. However, its prognostic significance in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) remains unclear. This study evaluated the association between PD-L1 expression and clinicopathological features and survival outcomes in patients with NPC. We conducted a retrospective analysis of 80 patients diagnosed with non-keratinizing undifferentiated NPC between 2015 and 2019. PD-L1 expression was assessed by immunohistochemistry using the 22C3 antibody and quantified as the tumor proportion score. Associations with clinicopathological variables were analyzed, and overall survival was evaluated using Kaplan–Meier and Cox regression analysis. PD-L1 expression was negative in 72.5% of cases, positive in 18.8% of cases, and strongly positive in 8.7% of cases. PD-L1 expression was not significantly associated with age, sex, disease stage, treatment modality, or overall survival (HR 1.71; p = 0.494). PD-L1 expression on tumor cells was not associated with clinicopathological characteristics or survival in non-keratinizing undifferentiated NPC. These findings suggest that PD-L1 alone is not a reliable prognostic biomarker for this NPC subtype, highlighting the need for integrated immune and molecular analyses in future studies.

Copyrights © 2026






Journal Info

Abbrev

InaJBCS

Publisher

Subject

Biochemistry, Genetics & Molecular Biology Health Professions Immunology & microbiology Medicine & Pharmacology Neuroscience

Description

Indonesian Journal of Biomedicine and Clinical Sciences (InaJBCS) aims to promote the translational of basic research into clinical studies and of clinical evidence into practice. InaJBCS publishes studies that substantially enhance our standing of disease etiology and physiology; the development of ...