Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes predict response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with breast carcinoma.

Tumor-infiltrating leukocytes and other immunohistochemical parameters were evaluated in pretherapeutic biopsies and resection specimens in 73 patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy with doxorubicin and paclitaxel. Ten patients with pathological complete response had significantly higher p53 expression, CD3(+) lymphocyte and CD83(+) cell counts, and lower progesterone receptor expression. In the remaining 63 patients, a significant decrease in the percentage of Ki-67, vascular endothelial growth factor expression, CD68(+) monocytes, and increased CD31(+), CD34(+), and SMA(+) stromal vessels, maximal CD3(+) and CD56(+) lymphocyte, maximal and mean CD83(+) cell, maximal CD1a(+), and maximal and mean S100(+) cell counts were observed after neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Prognostic significance of CD3+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in ovarian carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the most common cause of death among gynecological malignancies in Europe and North America. Although the presence of tumor-infiltrating mononuclear cells has been documented in EOC, the association of tumor-infiltrating mononuclear cells with clinical outcome remains controversial. The aim of the present study was to investigate the prognostic significance of CD3+ tumor-infiltrating T lymphocytes (TIL) on overall survival of EOC patients. METHODS: We evaluated retrospectively by immunohistochemistry the distribution of CD3+ TIL in tumor specimens of 116 EOC patients. The expression of estrogen and progesterone receptors, Ki-67, DNA topoisomerase IIalpha, p21, p53, HER-2/neu, bax and bcl-2 was also evaluated by immunohistochemistry. The prognostic significance of CD3+ TIL and other immunohistochemical and clinical parameters was evaluated with log-rank test. Multivariate analysis was performed using the Cox regression. RESULTS: CD3+ TIL were observed in all tumor samples, both in cancer stroma and within cancer epithelium (intraepithelial TIL). The median counts of stromal TIL and intraepithelial TIL were 338 lymphocytes/mm2 (range 81-2094 lymphocytes/mm2) and 125 lymphocytes/mm2 (range 7-481 lymphocytes/mm2), respectively. In univariate analysis, age, stage, grade, presence of residual tumor, expression of progesterone receptors, Ki-67, DNA topoisomerase IIalpha and intraepithelial CD3+ TIL count were significant predictors of overall survival. On multivariate analysis, only the presence of residual tumor, stage, expression of progesterone receptors and intraepithelial CD3+ TIL count were found to be significant independent predictors of overall survival. CONCLUSION: Present data indicate that the intraepithelial CD3+ TIL count is a significant prognostic factor in EOC.

Contribution of immunohistochemistry in prognostic assessment of epithelial ovarian carcinoma --review of the literature I.

Epithelial ovarian carcinoma is worldwide the sixth most common female cancer, and this malignancy carries the highest mortality among all gynecological cancers. The high mortality is due mostly to the fact that the tumor is frequently diagnosed late, in advanced stage, as the early disease is often asymptomatic and no effective screening methods are available. The most important prognostic factors in ovarian carcinoma are the stage, size of residual tumor following surgery, presence of ascites, age and the general condition of the patient, tumor histology, and, in patients with early disease, also the grade of the tumor. Large number of studies on prognostic and predictive factors in epithelial ovarian carcinoma has been published, often with contradictory results. The most intensely studied prognostic factors are those for expression of hormonal receptors, for tumor proliferation activity (mainly by antigen Ki-67 and topoisomerase IIalpha), the markers of apoptosis (p53, p21, mdm2, bcl-2 and other proteins), or other oncoproteins (particularly HER-2/neu).

Prognostic significance of CD3+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in patients with endometrial carcinoma.

AIM: The aim of the present study was to investigate tumor-infiltrating leukocytes in patients with endometrial carcinoma. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Cluster of differentiation (CD)3(+), CD8(+) and C20(+) tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and CD68(+) tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) were evaluated retrospectively by immunohistochemistry in tumor specimen from 124 patients with endometrial carcinoma. RESULTS: A significant decrease of CD3(+) TILs and an increase of CD68(+) TAM count was associated with higher tumor stage. In patients with early-stage, high-risk tumors, low intraepithelial CD3(+) TIL counts were associated with significantly inferior survival. In multivariate analysis of patients with early-stage tumors, intraepithelial CD3(+) TIL counts were an independent predictor of survival. CONCLUSION: In patients with endometrial carcinoma a decrease of intraepithelial CD3(+) TIL counts is associated with advanced stage and high risk group. Intraepithelial CD3(+) TIL counts are an independent predictor of survival in patients with early tumors.