Tumour infiltrating lymphocytes correlate with improved survival in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
We undertook a study of tumour infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in a large and relatively homogeneous group of patients with completely resected esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Hematoxylin and eosin-stained sections of 235 ESCC tumours were evaluated for density of TILs in intratumoural (iTIL) and stromal compartments (sTIL). Foxp3+, CD4+, and CD8+ T cells in tumoural and stromal areas were evaluated by immunohistochemistry. Of the 235 tumours, high sTIL (>10%), and iTIL (>10%) were observed in 101 (43.0%) and 98 (41.7%), respectively. The median follow-up period was 36.0 months (95% CI 29.929-42.071). Univariate analysis revealed that sTIL (>10%), iTIL (>20%), vessels involvement, lymph node metastasis, and clinical stage were significantly associated with postoperative outcome. In multivariate analysis, high sTIL (HR: 0.664, P = 0.019 for Disease free survival; HR: 0.608, P = 0.005 for Overall survival) was identified as independent better prognostic factor. Further analysis, sTIL was identified as independently prognostic factor in Stage III-IVa disease, which was not found in Stage I-II disease. Our study demonstrated that sTIL was associated with better ESCC patients' survival, especially in Stage III-IVa disease. Assessment of sTIL could be useful to discriminate biological behavior for ESCC patients.
Department of Pathology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, P. R. China.
Dongxian
D
Jiang
Department of Pathology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, P. R. China.
Yalan
Y
Liu
Department of Thoracic surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, P. R. China.
Hao
H
Wang
Department of Pathology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, P. R. China.
Haixing
H
Wang
Department of Pathology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, P. R. China.
Qi
Q
Song
Department of Pathology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, P. R. China.
Akesu
A
Sujie
Department of Pathology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, P. R. China.
Jie
J
Huang
Department of Pathology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, P. R. China.
Yifan
Y
Xu
Department of Pathology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, P. R. China.
Haiying
H
Zeng
Department of Thoracic surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, P. R. China.
Lijie
L
Tan
Department of Pathology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, P. R. China.|Department of Pathology, School of Basic Medical Sciences &Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, P. R. China.
Yingyong
Y
Hou
Department of Pathology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, P. R. China.
Chen
C
Xu
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000276:immunology* / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology* / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D000077277:Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D016246:Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D017751:Safety Management; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor