title: Prognostic impact of tumour-infiltrating B cells and plasma cells in colorectal cancer.
abstract: Multiple studies have described associations between infiltrating immune cells and prognosis in cancer; however, the clinical relevance has most often been attributed to the T-cell linage. This study aimed to further investigate the clinicopathological correlates and prognostic impact of B cell and plasma cell infiltration in CRC. Immunohistochemical expression of CD20, CD138 and immunoglobulin kappa C (IGKC) was analysed in tissue microarrays with tumours from 557 incident cases of CRC from a prospective population-based cohort. Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox regression analysis were used to determine the impact of CD20, CD138 and IGKC expression on 5-year overall survival. Immune cell-specific CD20, CD138, and IGKC expression correlated significantly with lower T-stage (p < 0.001, p < 0.001, and p = 0.006, respectively). A higher density of CD20+ cells correlated significantly with an improved OS (HR = 0.53, 95% CI 0.36-0.78), remaining significant in multivariable analysis adjusted for age, TNM stage, differentiation grade and vascular invasion (HR = 0.51; 95% CI 0.33-0.80). Immune cell-specific CD138 and IGKC expression correlated significantly with an improved OS in univariable Cox regression analysis; however, these associations did not remain significant in multivariable analysis. Finally, tumour cell-specific CD138 expression was found to be an independent factor of poor prognosis (HR 1.52; 95% CI 1.03-2.24). The results from the present study demonstrate that B cell infiltration in CRC has a significant impact on tumour progression and prognosis. These findings supplement and extend the current knowledge of the immune landscape in colorectal cancer, and merit further study.
authors.affiliation: Division of Oncology and Pathology, Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, SE-221 85, Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Jonna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Berntsson
authors.affiliation: Division of Oncology and Pathology, Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, SE-221 85, Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Björn
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nodin
authors.affiliation: Division of Oncology and Pathology, Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, SE-221 85, Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Jakob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Eberhard
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, SE-751 85, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Micke
authors.affiliation: Division of Oncology and Pathology, Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, SE-221 85, Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jirström
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018951:Antigens, CD20 / Q000378:metabolism; D015415:Biomarkers; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology* / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D016131:Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D016246:Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010641:Phenotype; D010950:Plasma Cells / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012042:Registries; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology; D053668:Syndecan-1 / Q000378:metabolism; D059016:Tumor Microenvironment / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D018951:Antigens, CD20; D015415:Biomarkers; D053668:Syndecan-1
keywords: B cells; CD138; CD20; IGKC; colorectal cancer; plasma cells