Tumoural PD-L1 status is employed in routine clinical practice as a predictive marker in blockade of PD-1/PD-L1 axis for advanced NSCLC.29–31 However, the prognostic value of PD-L1 status remains controversial, and some studies indicated a poor prognosis in patients with strong PD-L1 expression but others indicated a favourable prognosis.13,29,32,33 In the present study, pre-treatment or post-treatment PD-L1 status provided no significant prognostic value in patients who underwent cCRT followed by surgery, whereas high TPS seemed to be associated with a favourable OS (Fig. 5). Here, CD274 is linked to non-small cell lung carcinoma.