Methods From 2008 to 2010

208 non-small cell lung cancer patients who underwent surgery or CT-guided biopsy were recruited from Huadong Hospital

Fudan University. Immunohistochemistry staining was performed to evaluate the PD-L1 expression in both primary lung cancer cells and CD68 positive TAM. The relationship between PD-L1 expression and the clinical pathology was evaluated using χ

2

test. Spearman′s rank correlations were used to determine the correlation between PD-L1 expression in tumor cells and macrophages.Results Positive PD-L1 expression in primary cancer cells was found in 136 (65.3%) patients

which were negatively correlated with lymph node metastasis (P=0.009) and smoking history (P=0.036). Besides

TAM with PD-L1 expression (found in 116 patients) was positively associated with smoking history (P=0.034)

well-differentiation (P=0.029) and negative lymph node metastasis (P=0.0096). A correlation between PD-L1 expression in primary tumor cells and non-small cell lung cancer associated macrophages was found (r=0.228

P=0.021).ConclusionPD-L1

secreted from TAM

might induce cancer cells apoptosis

and decrease lymph node metastasis.