title: Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes: apparently good for melanoma patients. But why?
abstract: Tumor-infiltrating T lymphocytes (TILs) are observed in a number of human primary or metastatic tumors. Recently, gene expression profiling experiments suggested that the presence of T cells in metastatic melanomas before vaccinating the patients with tumor antigens could be a biomarker for clinical benefit from the vaccines. In this context, we review results pertaining to TILs in human melanomas, their prognostic value, and some possible reasons why their presence could help in selecting melanoma patients for vaccination against tumor-specific antigens.
authors.affiliation: de Duve Institute, Université catholique de Louvain, Avenue Hippocrate 74, UCL 7459, 1200 Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Arcadi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cipponi
authors.forename: Grégoire
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wieers
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: van Baren
authors.forename: Pierre G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Coulie
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000276:immunology; D054316:Biomarkers, Pharmacological / Q000378:metabolism; D019496:Cancer Vaccines; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D016246:Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating / Q000276:immunology*; D008545:Melanoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D018579:Patient Selection; D011379:Prognosis; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D054316:Biomarkers, Pharmacological; D019496:Cancer Vaccines