{"entity":{"id":"pd-l1-ic-score","kind":"biomarker","name":"PD-L1 IC score (immune-cell score, SP142)","aka":["PD-L1 IC","IC score","immune cell score","tumor-infiltrating immune cell score","SP142 IC","IC >= 1%","IC >= 5%","IC >= 10%","IC≥1%","IC2/3"],"tldr":"The IC score measures how much of the tumour area is covered by PD-L1-stained immune cells rather than tumour cells. It belongs to the SP142 assay used with atezolizumab and is read differently from every other PD-L1 score.","summary":"The VENTANA SP142 assay scores PD-L1 on tumour-infiltrating immune cells as the proportion of tumour area they occupy: IC0 (< 1 percent), IC1 (1 to < 5 percent), IC2 (5 to < 10 percent), IC3 (>= 10 percent). Atezolizumab's current US label uses IC >= 10 percent as one arm of the first-line NSCLC single-agent gate (the other being TC >= 50 percent). Earlier atezolizumab indications that used IC scores, IC >= 5 percent in cisplatin-ineligible urothelial cancer and IC >= 1 percent in triple-negative breast cancer (IMpassion130), were withdrawn in the United States in 2022 and 2021; the FDA companion diagnostic list still carries the urothelial SP142 approval of 2016. Blueprint comparison studies found SP142 stains fewer tumour cells than 22C3, 28-8 or SP263, so an SP142 result cannot be swapped for a TPS or CPS.","asOf":"2026-09-23","links":[{"label":"TECENTRIQ prescribing information (DailyMed)","url":"https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=6fa682c9-a312-4932-9831-f286908660ee"}],"tags":["biomarker","pd-l1"],"related":["pd-l1-cps","pd-l1-tps","pd-l1-tc-score"],"cancers":["nsclc","urothelial","tnbc-metastatic"],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":["atezolizumab","ventana-pd-l1-sp142"],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":["pd-l1-testing","ihc","tils"],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"target":"pdl1","measurement":"immune-cell-score","scoringRule":{"text":"Proportion of the tumour area occupied by PD-L1-staining tumour-infiltrating immune cells of any intensity, in bands IC0 to IC3; read on the SP142 assay only.","quote":"PD-L1 protein expression (PD-L1 stained tumor-infiltrating immune cells [IC] covering ≥ 5% of the tumor area)","source":"https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/in-vitro-diagnostics/list-cleared-or-approved-companion-diagnostic-devices-in-vitro-and-imaging-tools","sourceLabel":"FDA: List of FDA-Authorized Companion Diagnostic Devices"},"thresholds":[{"value":"IC >= 10% (or TC >= 50%)","drugId":"atezolizumab","cancerId":"nsclc","regulator":"FDA","source":"https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=6fa682c9-a312-4932-9831-f286908660ee","quote":"TECENTRIQ, as a single agent, is indicated for the first-line treatment of adult patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors have high PD-L1 expression (PD-L1 stained ≥ 50% of tumor cells [TC ≥ 50%] or PD-L1 stained tumor-infiltrating immune cells [IC] covering ≥ 10% of the tumor area [IC ≥ 10%]), as determined by an FDA-authorized test, with no EGFR or ALK genomic tumor aberrations","status":"current"},{"value":"IC >= 5% (cisplatin-ineligible)","drugId":"atezolizumab","cancerId":"urothelial","regulator":"FDA","source":"https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/in-vitro-diagnostics/list-cleared-or-approved-companion-diagnostic-devices-in-vitro-and-imaging-tools","quote":"PD-L1 protein expression (PD-L1 stained tumor-infiltrating immune cells [IC] covering ≥ 5% of the tumor area)","status":"withdrawn","note":"The first-line urothelial indication was withdrawn in the United States in November 2022; the SP142 companion diagnostic approval (P160002, 18 May 2016) remains on the FDA list."},{"value":"IC >= 1%","drugId":"atezolizumab","cancerId":"tnbc-metastatic","regulator":"FDA","source":"https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=6fa682c9-a312-4932-9831-f286908660ee","status":"withdrawn","note":"Accelerated approval with nab-paclitaxel (IMpassion130, 2019) was withdrawn in the United States in August 2021; the indication remains authorised in the European Union."}],"tests":[],"assays":["pdl1-sp142"],"companionDiagnostics":[{"device":"Ventana PD-L1 (SP142) Assay","maker":"Ventana Medical Systems (Roche)","drugs":["atezolizumab"],"indication":"Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) - Tissue","pma":"P160002/S006 (07/02/2018)","source":"https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/in-vitro-diagnostics/list-cleared-or-approved-companion-diagnostic-devices-in-vitro-and-imaging-tools"},{"device":"Ventana PD-L1 (SP142) Assay","maker":"Ventana Medical Systems (Roche)","drugs":["atezolizumab"],"indication":"Urothelial Carcinoma - Tissue","pma":"P160002 (05/18/2016)","source":"https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/in-vitro-diagnostics/list-cleared-or-approved-companion-diagnostic-devices-in-vitro-and-imaging-tools"}],"forPatient":"If your report says SP142 and gives an IC percentage, it is measuring immune cells around the tumour, not the tumour itself. In lung cancer an IC of 10 percent or more (or tumour cells at 50 percent or more) allows atezolizumab alone as first treatment. The older uses of this score in bladder and triple-negative breast cancer were withdrawn in the United States, so ask which label your country follows."},"route":"/biomarkers/pd-l1-ic-score/","neighbours":{"biomarker":[{"id":"pd-l1-cps","kind":"biomarker","name":"PD-L1 CPS (combined positive score)","route":"/biomarkers/pd-l1-cps/"},{"id":"pd-l1-tc-score","kind":"biomarker","name":"PD-L1 TC score (tumour-cell score, SP263 and 28-8)","route":"/biomarkers/pd-l1-tc-score/"},{"id":"pd-l1-tps","kind":"biomarker","name":"PD-L1 TPS (tumour proportion score)","route":"/biomarkers/pd-l1-tps/"}],"cancer":[{"id":"urothelial","kind":"cancer","name":"Bladder & urothelial cancer","route":"/cancers/urothelial/"},{"id":"tnbc-metastatic","kind":"cancer","name":"Metastatic triple-negative breast cancer","route":"/cancers/tnbc-metastatic/"},{"id":"nsclc","kind":"cancer","name":"Non-small-cell lung cancer","route":"/cancers/nsclc/"}],"drug":[{"id":"atezolizumab","kind":"drug","name":"Atezolizumab","route":"/drugs/atezolizumab/"},{"id":"ventana-pd-l1-sp142","kind":"drug","name":"VENTANA PD-L1 (SP142) Assay","route":"/drugs/ventana-pd-l1-sp142/"}],"term":[{"id":"ihc","kind":"term","name":"Immunohistochemistry (IHC)","route":"/terms/ihc/"},{"id":"pd-l1-testing","kind":"term","name":"PD-L1 expression testing (22C3, SP142, SP263)","route":"/terms/pd-l1-testing/"},{"id":"tils","kind":"term","name":"Tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs)","route":"/terms/tils/"}],"target":[{"id":"pdl1","kind":"target","name":"PD-L1","route":"/targets/pdl1/"}]}}