PD-L1 expression and tumor mutational burden are independent biomarkers in most cancers

PD-L1 expression and tumor mutational burden (TMB) have emerged as important biomarkers of response to immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy. These biomarkers have each succeeded and failed in predicting responders for different cancer types. We sought to describe the PD-L1 expression landscape across the spectrum of ICI-responsive human cancers, and to determine the relationship between PD-L1 expression, TMB, and response rates to ICIs.

We assessed 9887 clinical samples for PD-L1 expression and TMB.