Universal extracellular vesicles (EVs) and PD-L1-positive extracellular vesicles may be viable biomarkers for predicting survival in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), according to a study published in Oncoimmunology.
“Plasma EVs have been reported to be a promising source of diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers in various cancers. However, further research in this area is needed due to the limitations of circulating extracellular vesicles detection methods,” the researchers wrote.
To conduct this analysis, they utilized Single Molecule array (SiMoa) technology to construct two extracellular vesicle detection assays, CD9-CD63 and PD-L1-CD63, to determine circulating universal EVs and PD-L1 positive Evs. They retrospectively assessed a total of 164 DLBCL patients.
According to the results, compared with healthy controls (n = 25), elevated CD9-CD63 and PD-L1-CD63 signals were identified in the plasma of 164 DLBCL patients. The investigators observed that high CD9-CD63 signals were associated with molecular subtype, extranodal site, and treatment response in DLBCL. A high PD-L1-CD63 signal was also associated with certain clinical features, including extranodal site and treatment response, they noted. CD9-CD63 and PD-L1-CD63 signals were found to be important prognostic factors for both progression-free and overall survival. Moreover, the analysis found that PD-L1-positive EVs were detected in the whole study population, though PD-L1 protein expression was positive in only 35.4% (17 of 48) of tumor biopsies, the researchers further noted. The study found no association between circulating PD-L1+ EVs and soluble PD-L1 levels.
“Our results show that plasma universal EV and PD-L1-positive EV levels are significantly elevated in DLBCL and might serve as biomarkers for predicting survival outcomes in DLBCL patients,” the researchers concluded.
