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Tumor infiltrating Foxp3 + regulatory T‐cells are associated with recurrence in pathologic stage I NSCLC patients
Author(s) -
Petersen Rebecca P.,
Campa Michael J.,
Sperlazza Justin,
Conlon Debbi,
Joshi MaryBeth,
Harpole David H.,
Patz Edward F.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/cncr.22282
Subject(s) - medicine , stage (stratigraphy) , foxp3 , hazard ratio , oncology , lung cancer , tumor infiltrating lymphocytes , disease , cancer , pathology , immunotherapy , immunology , immune system , confidence interval , paleontology , biology
Abstract BACKGROUND. Early stage lung cancer has a variable prognosis, and there are currently no markers that predict which patients will recur. This study examined the relation between tumor‐regulatory T (Treg) cells and total tumor‐infiltrating T‐cell lymphocytes (TIL) to determine whether they correlated with recurrence. METHODS. The authors reviewed all patients in our tissue databank from 1996 to 2001 and identified 64 consecutive pathologic stage I non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients who had surgical resection and at least a 2.5 years disease‐free follow‐up or documented recurrence within 2 years. Immunohistochemical analyses were performed on paraffin‐embedded lung cancer tissue and the relation between Treg cells, TIL, and disease‐specific survival was determined. A risk index was devised deductively for various possible combinations of Treg cells and TIL. RESULTS. Treg cells and TIL were detected in 33 of 64 (51%) and 53 of 64 (83%) patients, respectively. When data were analyzed by using a Treg/TIL Combination Risk Index, patients with high‐risk and intermediate‐risk indices had hazard ratios of 8.2 ( P = .007) and 3.3 ( P = .109), respectively. CONCLUSIONS. Patients with stage I NSCLC who have a higher proportion of tumor Treg cells relative to TIL had a significantly higher risk of recurrence. These data may be useful, particularly if combined with a panel of tumor markers, to suggest at the time of diagnosis which patients with seemingly early‐stage NSCLC will relapse. Cancer 2006. © 2006 American Cancer Society.