Tumor expression of Nectin-1-4 and its clinical implication in muscle invasive bladder cancer: An intra-patient variability of Nectin-4 expression.

There is limited evidence regarding the tumor expression of nectins and their clinical implications in muscle invasive bladder cancer. Herein, we evaluated expression of Nectins 1-4 in 64 patients with muscle invasive bladder cancer who underwent radical cystectomy using a histochemical scoring method (H-score; immunohistochemical staining intensity multiplied by the percentage of positive-staining cells). The cutoff values were defined based on the median H-scores. Of the 64 patients, 45 (70%) had residual tumors in radical cystectomy specimens, while 13 (20%) had lymph node metastasis. The median (interquartile range) H-scores of Nectin-1, - 2, - 3, and - 4 expression were 0 (0-10), 80 (30-180), 5 (0-30), and 100 (33-160), respectively. The Nectin-4 H-score of the neuroendocrine variant was significantly lower than that of pure urothelial carcinoma (P = 0.015). Post-neoadjuvant chemotherapy pathological response (<ypT2N0 residual disease and pN-negative) was achieved in 18 (49%) of the 37 patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Clinical stage II, not Nectin expression, was an independent factor associated with pathological response (P = 0.019, adjusted odds ratio 6.9, vs stage III/IV). There was no correlation in Nectin-4 tumor expression between transurethral resection and matched radical cystectomy specimens and between radical cystectomy specimens and matched lymph node metastatic lesions. However, there was a significant decrease in Nectin-4 expression in post-neoadjuvant chemotherapy radical cystectomy specimens compared to pre-neoadjuvant chemotherapy transurethral resection specimens (P = 0.008). Given the downregulation of Nectin-4 by chemotherapy and the significant discrepancy between radical cystectomy and matched lymph node metastasis specimens, baseline primary tumors may not be a suitable material for evaluating Nectin-4 expression and its potential as a predictive biomarker for enfortumab vedotin treatment.

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Conflict of interest The authors declare no competing interests.