Standardized and quality-assured predictive PD-L1 testing in the upper gastrointestinal tract.

"Declarations Conflict of interestG. Baretton received consultant fees from AstraZeneca GmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH & Co. KGaA, MSD Sharp & Dohme GmbH, and Roche Deutschland Holding GbmH; received other fees from Astellas Pharma GmbH, AstraZeneca GmbH and Daiichi Sankyo Deutschland GmbH for presentations and lectures; was reimbursed for travel expenses by MSD Sharp & Dohme GmbH; is Chairman of the DGP Deutsche Gesellschaft für Pathologie e.V.. T. Gaiser received fees from Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH & Co. KGaA, MSD Sharp & Dohme GmbH and Roche Deutschland Holding GbmH for consulting activities and lectures. R. Hofheinz received consultant fees from Amgen GmbH, AstraZeneca GmbH, Bayer AG, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH & Co. KGaA, Daiichi Sankyo Deutschland GmbH, Leo Pharma GmbH, Lilly Deutschland GmbH, medac GmbH, Merck KGaA, MSD Sharp & Dohme GmbH, Nordic Pharma GmbH, Pierre Fabre S.A., Roche Deutschland Holding GbmH, Saladax Biomedical, Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland GmbH, Servier Deutschland GmbH and Synlab Holding Deutschland GmbH; received other fees from Amgen GmbH, AstraZeneca GmbH, Bayer AG, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH & Co. KGaA, Daiichi Sankyo Deutschland GmbH, Leo Pharma GmbH, Lilly Deutschland GmbH, medac GmbH, Merck KGaA, MSD Sharp & Dohme GmbH, Nordic Pharma GmbH, Pierre Fabre S. A., Roche Deutschland Holding GbmH, Saladax Biomedical, Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland GmbH, Servier Deutschland GmbH, Synlab Holding Deutschland GmbH and was active as an appraiser for Deutsche Krebshilfe. D. Horst has received fees from Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH & Co. KGaA for speaking engagements. F. Lordick received fees for lectures, expert appraisal or consulting services from Amgen GmbH, Astellas Pharma GmbH, AstraZeneca GmbH, Bayer AG, BioNTech SE, Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH & Co. KGaA, Daiichi Sankyo Deutschland GmbH, Lilly Deutschland GmbH, Elsevier GmbH, Falk Foundation e.V., Incyte Inc, Merck KGaA, MSD Sharp & Dohme GmbH, Novartis Pharma GmbH, Roche Deutschland Holding GbmH, Servier Deutschland GmbH, Springe Nature AG & Co. KGaA, StreamedUp! GmbH; research projects are supported by Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH und Co. KGaA and Gilead Science GmbH. S. Lorenzen received consultant fees from Amgen GmbH, AstraZeneca GmbH, Bayer AG, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH & Co. KGaA, Daiichi Sankyo Deutschland GmbH, Leo Pharma GmbH, Lilly Deutschland GmbH, medac GmbH, Merck KGaA, MSD Sharp & Dohme GmbH, Nordic Pharma GmbH, Pierre Fabre S. A., Roche Deutschland Holding GbmH, Saladax Biomedical, Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland GmbH, Servier Deutschland GmbH, Synlab Holding Deutschland GmbH; other fees from Amgen GmbH, AstraZeneca GmbH, Bayer AG, Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH & Co. KGaA, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Daiichi Sankyo Deutschland GmbH, Leo Pharma GmbH, Lilly Deutschland GmbH, medac GmbH, Merck KGaA, MSD Sharp & Dohme GmbH, Nordic Pharma GmbH, Pierre Fabre S. A., Roche Deutschland Holding GbmH, Saladax Biomedical, Sanofi- Aventis Deutschland GmbH, Servier Deutschland GmbH and Synlab Holding Deutschland GmbH; research projects are supported by Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH & Co. KGaA and Lilly Deutschland GmbH (study partial funding); received non-financial support from AIO-Studien-GmbH, Amgen GbmH, Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH & Co. KGaA, BMBF, Deutsche Krebshilfe, European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer; declared to have an advisory role and to receive research grants from Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH & Co. KGaA. M. Moehler is Head of the Gastroenterological Oncology Outpatient Clinic at Mainz University Hospital; received consultant fees from Amgen GmbH, AstraZeneca GmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH & Co. KGaA, Lilly Deutschland GmbH, Merck KGaA, MSD Sharp & Dohme GbmH, Onyx Pharma Ltd, Pfizer Deutschland GmbH, Roche Deutschland Holding GbmH, Taiho Pharmaceutical Co, Ltd, as well as other fees from Amgen GmbH, ASCO, AstraZeneca GmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH & Co. KGaA, Dr. Falk Pharma GmbH, ESMO, Lilly Deutschland GmbH, mci, MSD Sharp & Dohme GmbH, Merck KGaA, Nordic Pharma GmbH, Pfizer Deutschland GmbH; receives funding for scientific research from AIO-Studien-GmbH, Amgen GmbH, EORTC, Merck KGaA, MSD Sharp & Dohme GmbH, AIO-Studien-GmbH, Taiho Pharmaceutical Co, Ltd. C. Röcken is a member of the advisory boards and receives honoraria for lectures from Alnylam Pharmaceutical, Inc, Astellas Pharma GmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH & Co. KGaA, Janssen-Cilag GmbH, MSD Sharp & Dohme GmbH and Pfizer. P. Schirmacher received fees from Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH & Co. KGaA, Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd, Gilead Science GmbH, Incyte Inc, PathAI Inc; is a member of the advisory boards from Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH & Co. KGaA, Eisai GmbH, Incyte Inc., Leica, MSD Sharp & Dohme GbmH; received fees as Speaker for Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH & Co. KGaA, Incyte Inc., Jannsen-Cilag GmbH and Leica. M. Stahl is a member of the advisory boards from Amgen GmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH & Co. KGaA, Daiichi Sankyo Deutschland GmbH, Lilly Deutschland GmbH, MSD Sharp & Dohme GmbH, Novartis Pharma GmbH, Pfizer Deutschland GmbH and Servier Deutschland GmbH; received fees for lectures from Amgen GmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH & Co. KGaA, Lilly Deutschland GmbH, Merck KGaA and Roche Deutschland Holding GbmH. P. Thuss-Patience is a member of the advisory boards of Astellas Pharma GmbH, AstraZeneca GmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH & Co. KGaA, Daiichi Sankyo Deutschland GmbH, Lilly Deutschland GmbH, Merck KGaA, MSD Sharp & Dohme GmbH, Roche Deutschland Holding GbmH, Novartis Pharma GmbH; received support for travel expenses from Merck KGaA. K. Tiemann received fees as a member of the advisory boards and for lectures from AstraZeneca GmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH & Co. KGaA, MSD Sharp & Dohme GmbH and Roche Deutschland Holding GbmH. Conflict of interest G. Baretton received consultant fees from AstraZeneca GmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH & Co. KGaA, MSD Sharp & Dohme GmbH, and Roche Deutschland Holding GbmH; received other fees from Astellas Pharma GmbH, AstraZeneca GmbH and Daiichi Sankyo Deutschland GmbH for presentations and lectures; was reimbursed for travel expenses by MSD Sharp & Dohme GmbH; is Chairman of the DGP Deutsche Gesellschaft für Pathologie e.V.. T. Gaiser received fees from Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH & Co. KGaA, MSD Sharp & Dohme GmbH and Roche Deutschland Holding GbmH for consulting activities and lectures. R. Hofheinz received consultant fees from Amgen GmbH, AstraZeneca GmbH, Bayer AG, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH & Co. KGaA, Daiichi Sankyo Deutschland GmbH, Leo Pharma GmbH, Lilly Deutschland GmbH, medac GmbH, Merck KGaA, MSD Sharp & Dohme GmbH, Nordic Pharma GmbH, Pierre Fabre S.A., Roche Deutschland Holding GbmH, Saladax Biomedical, Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland GmbH, Servier Deutschland GmbH and Synlab Holding Deutschland GmbH; received other fees from Amgen GmbH, AstraZeneca GmbH, Bayer AG, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH & Co. KGaA, Daiichi Sankyo Deutschland GmbH, Leo Pharma GmbH, Lilly Deutschland GmbH, medac GmbH, Merck KGaA, MSD Sharp & Dohme GmbH, Nordic Pharma GmbH, Pierre Fabre S. A., Roche Deutschland Holding GbmH, Saladax Biomedical, Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland GmbH, Servier Deutschland GmbH, Synlab Holding Deutschland GmbH and was active as an appraiser for Deutsche Krebshilfe. D. Horst has received fees from Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH & Co. KGaA for speaking engagements. F. Lordick received fees for lectures, expert appraisal or consulting services from Amgen GmbH, Astellas Pharma GmbH, AstraZeneca GmbH, Bayer AG, BioNTech SE, Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH & Co. KGaA, Daiichi Sankyo Deutschland GmbH, Lilly Deutschland GmbH, Elsevier GmbH, Falk Foundation e.V., Incyte Inc, Merck KGaA, MSD Sharp & Dohme GmbH, Novartis Pharma GmbH, Roche Deutschland Holding GbmH, Servier Deutschland GmbH, Springe Nature AG & Co. KGaA, StreamedUp! GmbH; research projects are supported by Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH und Co. KGaA and Gilead Science GmbH. S. Lorenzen received consultant fees from Amgen GmbH, AstraZeneca GmbH, Bayer AG, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH & Co. KGaA, Daiichi Sankyo Deutschland GmbH, Leo Pharma GmbH, Lilly Deutschland GmbH, medac GmbH, Merck KGaA, MSD Sharp & Dohme GmbH, Nordic Pharma GmbH, Pierre Fabre S. A., Roche Deutschland Holding GbmH, Saladax Biomedical, Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland GmbH, Servier Deutschland GmbH, Synlab Holding Deutschland GmbH; other fees from Amgen GmbH, AstraZeneca GmbH, Bayer AG, Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH & Co. KGaA, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Daiichi Sankyo Deutschland GmbH, Leo Pharma GmbH, Lilly Deutschland GmbH, medac GmbH, Merck KGaA, MSD Sharp & Dohme GmbH, Nordic Pharma GmbH, Pierre Fabre S. A., Roche Deutschland Holding GbmH, Saladax Biomedical, Sanofi- Aventis Deutschland GmbH, Servier Deutschland GmbH and Synlab Holding Deutschland GmbH; research projects are supported by Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH & Co. KGaA and Lilly Deutschland GmbH (study partial funding); received non-financial support from AIO-Studien-GmbH, Amgen GbmH, Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH & Co. KGaA, BMBF, Deutsche Krebshilfe, European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer; declared to have an advisory role and to receive research grants from Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH & Co. KGaA. M. Moehler is Head of the Gastroenterological Oncology Outpatient Clinic at Mainz University Hospital; received consultant fees from Amgen GmbH, AstraZeneca GmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH & Co. KGaA, Lilly Deutschland GmbH, Merck KGaA, MSD Sharp & Dohme GbmH, Onyx Pharma Ltd, Pfizer Deutschland GmbH, Roche Deutschland Holding GbmH, Taiho Pharmaceutical Co, Ltd, as well as other fees from Amgen GmbH, ASCO, AstraZeneca GmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH & Co. KGaA, Dr. Falk Pharma GmbH, E"

"Funding Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL. BMS had the following involvement with the manuscript: contributions to conceptualization; provision of funding for manuscript preparation. BMS did not influence the content of the manuscript, nor did the authors receive financial compensation for authoring this manuscript. The recommendations referred to in this manuscript are the consensus of the authors and reflect their opinions and long-term experience in the field."