{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T18:22:51Z","timestamp":1785435771332,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":52,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,11]],"date-time":"2026-04-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1775865600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100007771","name":"Medical University of Silesia","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["BNW-1-027\/N\/4\/I"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["BNW-1-027\/N\/4\/I"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100007771","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["BNW-1-027\/N\/4\/I"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["BNW-1-027\/N\/4\/I"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/005k7hp45","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The PD-1\/PD-L1 axis is crucial for immune regulation and homeostasis, but cancer cells can exploit this pathway to evade immune surveillance. PD-1, a key immune checkpoint receptor, interacts with its ligands PD-L1 and PD-L2 to modulate immune responses within the tumor microenvironment. We hypothesized that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the PDCD1 and CD274 genes, encoding PD-1 and PD-L1, are associated with clinicopathological features, PD-L1 immunohistochemical expression, and clinical outcomes in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). We analyzed four SNPs using TaqMan allelic discrimination assays in 238 ccRCC cases: rs11568821 and rs7603052 (PDCD1), and rs4143815 and rs17718883 (CD274). The rs7603052 polymorphism in PDCD1 and rs17718883 in CD274 were significantly associated (p = 0.033 and p = 0.043 respectively) with PD-L1 expression in tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TIICs). Specifically, the C allele of rs7603052 and the CC genotype of rs17718883 correlated with PD-L1 positivity in TIICs. Additionally, the C allele of rs4143815 in CD274 was associated with PD-L1 positivity in tumor cells (p = 0.039). Notably, rs17718883 in CD274 was associated with ccRCC patient prognosis: carriers of the T allele, particularly those with the CT genotype, demonstrated improved overall survival compared to CC genotype carriers (p &lt; 0.001). These findings suggest that PDCD1 and CD274 polymorphisms may serve as potential predictive and prognostic biomarkers in ccRCC.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms27083435","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,13]],"date-time":"2026-04-13T08:49:02Z","timestamp":1776070142000},"page":"3435","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Association Between Polymorphisms in Genes Encoding PD-1\/PD-L1 Molecules and Clinicopathological Features in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"27","author":[{"given":"Magdalena","family":"Onyszczuk","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pathomorphology, Faculty of Medical Sciences in Zabrze, Medical University of Silesia, 40-055 Katowice, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3571-8587","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nikola","family":"Szweda-Gandor","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department and Clinic of Internal Medicine, Diabetology and Nephrology, Medical University of Silesia, 41-800 Zabrze, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Magdalena","family":"Rynkiewicz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pathomorphology, Faculty of Medical Sciences in Zabrze, Medical University of Silesia, 40-055 Katowice, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2287-6842","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bogna","family":"Drozdzowska","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pathomorphology, Faculty of Medical Sciences in Zabrze, Medical University of Silesia, 40-055 Katowice, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"646","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cell.2011.02.013","article-title":"Hallmarks of cancer: The next generation","volume":"144","author":"Hanahan","year":"2011","journal-title":"Cell"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"10","DOI":"10.1186\/s12943-018-0928-4","article-title":"Role of the tumor microenvironment in PD-L1\/PD-1-mediated tumor immune escape","volume":"18","author":"Jiang","year":"2019","journal-title":"Mol. 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