Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes (TILs) in Early Breast Cancer Patients: High CD3<sup>+</sup>, CD8<sup>+</sup>, and Immunoscore Are Associated with a Pathological Complete Response

Background: Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes are associated with a better prognosis in early triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). These cells can be enumerated in situ by the “Immunoscore Clinical Research” (ISCR). The original Immunoscore<sup>®</sup> is a prognostic tool that categorizes...

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Main Authors: Bernardo Leon Rapoport, Simon Nayler, Bernhard Mlecnik, Teresa Smit, Liezl Heyman, Isabelle Bouquet, Marine Martel, Jérôme Galon, Carol-Ann Benn, Ronald Anderson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-05-01
Series:Cancers
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6694/14/10/2525
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Summary:Background: Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes are associated with a better prognosis in early triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). These cells can be enumerated in situ by the “Immunoscore Clinical Research” (ISCR). The original Immunoscore<sup>®</sup> is a prognostic tool that categorizes the densities of CD3<sup>+</sup> and CD8<sup>+</sup> cells in both the invasive margin (IM) and center of the tumor (CT) in localized colon cancer, yielding a five-tiered classification (0–4). We evaluated the prognostic potential of ISCR and pathological complete response (pCR) following neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT). Methods: The cohort included 53 TNBC, 32 luminal BC, and 18 HER2-positive BC patients undergoing NACT. Pre-treatment tumor biopsies were immune-stained for CD3<sup>+</sup> and CD8<sup>+</sup> T-cell markers. Quantitative analysis of these cells in different tumor locations was performed using computer-assisted image analysis. Results: The pCR rate was 44%. Univariate analysis showed that primary tumor size, estrogen-receptor negative, progesterone-receptor negative, luminal vs. HER2-positive vs. TNBC, high Ki-67, high densities (cells/mm<sup>2</sup>) of CD3 CT, CD8<sup>+</sup> CT, CD3<sup>+</sup> IM, and CD8<sup>+</sup> IM cells were associated with a high pCR. ISCR was associated with pCR following NACT. A multivariate model consisting of ISCR and the significant variables from the univariate analysis showed a significant trend for ISCR; however, the low sample size did not provide enough power for the model to be included in this study. Conclusions: These results revealed a significant prognostic role for the spatial distributions of the CD3<sup>+</sup>, and CD8<sup>+</sup> lymphocytes, as well as the ISCR in relation to pCR following NACT.
ISSN:2072-6694