title: The Prognostic Value of Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes in Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The prognostic values of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and TILs subsets in breast cancer (BC) are uncertain.
  
  
  METHODS
  A systematic literature search (MEDLINE, Web of Science, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library to August 2014) was conducted for studies which met the eligibility criteria. The primary clinical outcome was defined as disease-free survival (DFS), overall survival (OS), and BC-specific survival (BCSS). Random or fixed-effects model was adopted to estimate the summary hazard ratio (HR).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-five published studies comprising 22,964 patients were reviewed. Pooled analysis indicated that TILs were not prognostic markers for DFS and OS in overall population, but related to improved DFS (HR, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.76-0.88) and OS (HR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.71-0.87) in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients. For TILs subsets, CD8+ lymphocytes were associated with improved DFS (HR, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.56-0.84) and BCSS (HR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.71-0.86) in overall population, while FOXP3+ lymphocytes were associated with reduced DFS (HR, 1.47; 95% CI, 1.01-2.05) and OS (HR, 1.50; 95% CI, 1.15-1.97). In estrogen receptor (ER) negative patients, CD8+ lymphocytes was also related to better BCSS. In addition, the high density of CD20+, CD3+ or low level of PD-1+ or γδ T lymphocytes indicated increased OS in limited studies.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  TILs and TILs subsets are promising prognostic biomarkers in breast cancer, especially in TNBC.
authors.affiliation: Breast Health Center, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong, China.|Comprehensive Breast Health Center, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Qu
authors.affiliation: Comprehensive Breast Health Center, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Xiaosong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Comprehensive Breast Health Center, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Ou
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Comprehensive Breast Health Center, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Jiayi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Comprehensive Breast Health Center, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Kunwei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shen
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016246:Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D011379:Prognosis
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor