Marcin Misiek

Correlation of PD‐L1 Expression With Microsatellite Instability and p53 Status in Endometrial Cancer: A Clinicopathological and Molecular Analysis

ABSTRACT Aim This study aimed to evaluate the correlations between programmed death‐ligand 1 ( PD‐L1 ) expression, the mismatch repair system, and p53 status in endometrial cancer, considering tumor stage. Methods A retrospective analysis of clinicopathological and immunohistochemical data was conducted on 254 patients treated at Holy Cross Cancer Centre (Poland). The majority of patients had endometrioid adenocarcinoma (89.8%) and FIGO stage I disease (69.7%). Results Positive PD‐L1 expression (threshold ≥ 1%) was observed in only 3.9% of cases, while mismatch repair system deficiency and aberrant p53 expression were present in 18.1% and 17.3%, respectively. No significant correlations were found between PD‐L1 expression and clinicopathological parameters, repair system status, or p53 ( p  = 0.328 and p  = 0.359, respectively). However, a significant association ( p  = 0.046) was noted between PD‐L1 positivity and the microsatellite‐unstable/hypermutated molecular subtype, with 30% of PD‐L1 positive tumors exhibiting this subtype compared to 10.2% of PD‐L1 negative tumors. Conclusions No molecular marker demonstrated a significant association with recurrence risk ( p  > 0.05), in contrast to the FIGO stage, which showed a significant correlation ( p  < 0.001). Although PD‐L1 expression was rare, it was significantly associated with microsatellite instability, highlighting the potential of molecular classification to identify candidates for immunotherapy. However, the low frequency of PD‐L1 positivity and the small sample size warrant caution in interpreting these findings, and further research is needed to confirm the clinical relevance of PD‐L1 in endometrial cancer.

An Assessment of Serum Selenium Concentration in Women with Ovarian Cancer

Background: Available studies on the effect of serum selenium levels on the risk of malignancies show some conflicting results. In this study, we investigated the correlation between serum selenium levels and ovarian cancer occurrence. Methods: 314 women (157 diseased patients and 157 healthy ones) matched in terms of age and BMI were included in the study. The measurements of selenium in the collected blood samples were performed using an ICP mass spectrometer. Univariable and multivariable analyzes were performed to determine the relationship between the factors under the study and the occurrence of ovarian cancer. Results: The mean concentration of selenium was lower among diseased ones than among controls (53.31 μg/L vs. 78.99 μg/L). A decrease in selenium concentration was noticed with the advancement of ovarian cancer. In univariable and multivariable analyzes, a clear relationship between low selenium concentration and the occurrence of ovarian cancer was found (35.3 (95% CI: 11.2–111; p < 0.001) and 45.8 (95% CI: 12.8–164; p < 0.001)). Conclusion: The studied patients with ovarian cancer are characterized by statistically significant lower serum selenium levels than patients from the control group. Among the study group, a decrease in selenium concentration was observed with an increase in the FIGO stage. The determination of the role of selenium as a prophylactic factor in ovarian cancer requires further prospective studies.