Soluble programmed death ligand-1(sPD-L1) is elevated in aggressive prostate cancer disease among African men

Background The programmed death 1 (PD1)/programmed death-ligand 1 (PDL1) targeted immunotherapies have become a new mode of treatment for several tumours; however, there is limited evidence on the expression and prognostic value of PD1/PDL1 in prostate cancer, especially in African men. Methods The plasma concentrations of PD-L1/PD1 were assessed using Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay in patients with prostate cancer and normal healthy controls at the Uganda Cancer Institute. The association between plasma PD-L1/PD1 concentration levels and PSA levels, Gleason scores, age, and Body mass index were determined. Results We found significant differences in the median plasma concentrations of PD-L1 and PD-1 immune checkpoint molecules between Prostate cancer cases and normal healthy controls of (0.285 vs 0.035) p-value 0.001 and (0.596 vs 0.355) p-value 0.017, respectively. We found no significant association between age, plasma PSA levels, BMI and Gleason scores, and PD-1 among patients with prostate cancer and controls. However, elevated levels of PD-L1 were significantly associated with raised Gleason scores among patients with prostate cancer with a p-value of <0.001. Conclusions Elevated PD-L1 levels were statistically significantly linked to high Gleason scores. These results may guide clinicians in assessing the prognosis of patients individually and selecting suitable patients that will make favorable candidates for anti-PD-L1 immunotherapy.