PD-L1 Test: A Guide for Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment Planning

Why is PD-L1 testing important?

The PD-L1 testing is an essential tool in cancer treatment. This testing helps doctors to predict the treatment outcome of patients, when responding to various immunotherapy drugs such as pembrolizumab and nivolumab for cancers like non-small cell lung cancer, melanoma, and bladder cancer.

PD-L1 is a protein found especially on tumors, which helps them mask themselves from the immune system, and by testing its presence and level, doctors often evaluate whether immunotherapy helps the immune system to fight against cancer, which is a suitable treatment option.

Personalized treatment: These tests help doctors to design treatment plans to a patient’s specific tumor, further promoting to get more effective and personalized cancer treatments.

Predicting the response to treatment: This high level of PD-L1 presence on the tumor cells suggests that these tumor cells are using PD-L1 protein to suppress the immune system. While an immune checkpoint inhibitor (Immunotherapy drug) may be effective in effectively blocking the interaction and also allows the T cells to destroy the cancer cells.

Guiding treatment Decisions: The test results help to guide the decision to use immunotherapy, with high PD-L1 levels usually favoring immunotherapy as a treatment. A low level of Immunotherapy that might not be the best option and other treatment should be considered.

Here are some of the FDA- approved immunotherapy drugs that target PD-1 or PD-L1, including:

PD-1 Inhibitors

• Pembrolizumab
• Nivolumab

PD-L1 Inhibitors

• Atezolizumab
• Durvalumab

These are some of the crucial drugs that are successful in treating cancers that have high levels of PD-L1, improving the overall survival rates and quality of life for many patients.

How to interpret the test results

• High Expression: A PD-L1 expression of, for example, 50% or more in lung cancer usually suggests the tumor is more likely to respond to immunotherapy, which makes it a first-line cancer treatment.
• Low or Negative Expression: When the PD-L1 expression is low or negative, then the immunotherapy may be less effective in patients. However, it doesn’t necessarily exclude immunotherapy entirely from the treatments. Other factors are also considered.
• Moderate Expression: In some cases, there are several cancers that often fall into a moderate category, which indicates a potential efficacy but without guaranteed treatment responses.

Many studies suggest that each cancer type might have different levels which predict ‘high’ and ‘low’ PD-L1 expression. For example: In lung cancer, a PD-L1 expression of 50% or more is often considered as high, while in other cancers, the levels of threshold might vary.

Consult Today

The PD-L1 test is a powerful tool used for targeted cancer treatment. It helps with guiding treatment decisions and shows promise in immunotherapy, while its utility is considered complex and depends on factors like specific types of cancer.

At Oncare, we offer premium-quality cancer treatments, including advanced cancer surgeries at affordable price ranges with an experienced cancer specialists consultation.

If you or any loved ones of yours are diagnosed with cancer, then visit Oncare Cancer Center and book an appointment with our experienced cancer specialist today. Get an estimated cost of your cancer treatments today!