Evaluation of systemic PD-L1 levels and their association with quality of life of patients with Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma

• Grant number: 25/10373-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: January 01, 2026
• End date: July 31, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Vitor Bonetti Valente
• Grantee: Mariana Aparecida Sanches Pereira
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Odontologia (FOA). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Araçatuba. Araçatuba , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 24/06015-4 - Evaluation of levels of inflammatory markers, growth factors and PD-L1 and Epstein-Barr virus infection in patients with Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma: a prospective study, AP.R

Abstract

Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma (CHL) is a B-cell malignancy associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection and modulated by inflammatory mediators. The production and secretion of these mediators by Hodgkin and Reed-Sternberg cells in the tumor microenvironment can lead to CHL progression. The disease progression compromises the patient's quality of life, increases the risk of relapse or refractory disease, and reduces the chances of cure. Programmed cell death protein-ligand 1 (PD-L1) is associated with the pathogenesis of CHL, poor response to conventional chemotherapy, and poor survival. PD-L1 is a biomarker belonging to the group of immune checkpoint proteins and can act to inhibit apoptosis of Hodgkin and Reed-Sternberg cells and antitumor response, facilitating cancer progression. To date, there are no studies investigating salivary PD-L1 levels in patients with CHL. Likewise, no investigation has demonstrated the relationship between systemic PD-L1 levels and the quality of life of these patients. The objective of the present study is to investigate the association between plasma and salivary PD-L1 concentrations and the quality of life levels of patients with LHC before oncological treatment. This research will include 20 patients diagnosed with LHC and 20 healthy volunteers. The patients will come from the Oncology Treatment Center (CTO) of the Santa Casa de Hospital of Araçatuba and the Oral Oncology Center (COB) of the Araçatuba School of Dentistry (FOA-UNESP). Blood and saliva samples from LHC patients and healthy volunteers will be collected at the time of admission to the research. Plasma and salivary PD-L1 levels will be measured using the Multiplex® assay. Demographic, clinicopathological and biobehavioral data of LHC patients and healthy volunteers will be collected in a specific clinical record. Differences between groups regarding plasma and salivary PD-L1 levels will be analyzed. The profile of patients with CHL and healthy volunteers will be matched according to their demographic, clinicopathological and biobehavioral characteristics. In the group of patients with CHL, the association of demographic, clinicopathological and biobehavioral data with plasma and salivary PD-L1 levels will be investigated. Data will be checked for normality and statistical analysis will be performed using specific tests. For continuous data, results will be presented as mean ± standard error of the mean (SEM). The critical level will be set at 5% (p<0.05) to admit differences in values as statistically significant. (AU)