Density of Tumor-Infiltrating FOXP3+ T Cells as a Response Marker for Induction Chemoradiotherapy and a Potential Prognostic Factor in Patients Treated with Trimodality Therapy for Locally Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

• Published in: Annals of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery 2014, Vol.20(6), pp.980-986
• Main Authors: Tao, Hiroyuki, Shien, Kazuhiko, Soh, Junichi, Matsuda, Eisuke, Toyooka, Shinichi, Okabe, Kazunori, Miyoshi, Shinichiro
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biomarkers, Tumor - analysis; Biopsy; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung - immunology; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung - mortality; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung - pathology; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung - therapy; Chemoradiotherapy, Adjuvant - adverse effects; Chemoradiotherapy, Adjuvant - mortality; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; Female; Forkhead Transcription Factors - analysis; FOXP3; Humans; Immunohistochemistry; induction chemoradiotherapy; Kaplan-Meier Estimate; Lung Neoplasms - immunology; Lung Neoplasms - mortality; Lung Neoplasms - pathology; Lung Neoplasms - therapy; Lymphocyte Count; Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating - immunology; Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating - pathology; Male; Middle Aged; Neoadjuvant Therapy - adverse effects; Neoadjuvant Therapy - mortality; Neoplasm Staging; non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC); Pneumonectomy - adverse effects; Pneumonectomy - mortality; Predictive Value of Tests; regulatory T cell (Treg); T-Lymphocytes - immunology; T-Lymphocytes - pathology; Time Factors; Treatment Outcome; tumor-infiltrating T cell
• ISSN: 1341-1098; 2186-1005
• DOI: 10.5761/atcs.oa.13-00237

Purpose: To examine the relationship between the density of tumor-infiltrating T cell subpopulations and the pathological response to induction chemoradiotherapy (CRT) in patients with locally advanced NSCLC, and to assess the impact of T cell density on patient prognosis.Methods: A total of 64 patients with c-stages IIA-IIIB NSCLC who underwent induction CRT followed by R0 surgery were enrolled. Tumor-infiltrating T cells expressing either FOXP3 or CD8 were detected by immunohistochemical staining.Results: Mean numbers of tumor-infiltrating FOXP3+ T cells were 39.9 for patients with minor pathological responses (n = 9), 18.4 for those with major pathological responses (n = 25), and 12.9 for those with complete pathological responses (n = 30; P