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The number of tumour‐infiltrating TIA‐1+ cytotoxic T cells but not FOXP3+ regulatory T cells predicts outcome in diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma
Author(s) -
Hasselblom Sverker,
Sigurdadottir Margret,
Hansson Ulrika,
NilssonEhle Herman,
Ridell Börje,
Andersson PerOla
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
british journal of haematology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.907
H-Index - 186
eISSN - 1365-2141
pISSN - 0007-1048
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2141.2007.06593.x
Subject(s) - cytotoxic t cell , foxp3 , lymphoma , immunohistochemistry , diffuse large b cell lymphoma , medicine , oncology , survival analysis , cancer research , immunology , biology , immune system , in vitro , biochemistry
Summary The prognostic significance of tumour‐infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in patients with diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma (DLBCL) remains controversial. Furthermore, the possible impact of regulatory T cells (T regs ) on survival in DLBCL is still unknown. We performed a retrospective study on the immunohistochemical expression of cytotoxic cells and T regs , and their correlation with survival in 195 DLBCL patients. Patients with a small number of cytotoxic T‐cell intracytoplasmic antigen‐1 (TIA‐1)+ T cells (≤260 cells/mm 2 tumour area; n = 52) had significantly better outcome than patients with a large number (>260 cells/mm 2 ; n = 143); progression‐free survival (PFS) at 5 years was 67% vs. 50% ( P = 0·03) and overall survival (OS) was 73% vs. 57% ( P = 0·03). In multivariate analysis, the low TIA‐1+ group still had a better PFS (relative risk 0·75, 95% confidence interval 0·31–0·99; P = 0·05). The number of forkhead box protein 3 (FOXP3)+ T regs had no influence on PFS ( P = 0·89) or OS ( P = 0·75). These results suggest that immunohistochemical analysis of cytotoxic T cells at time of diagnosis could provide additional prognostic information. The lack of correlation between the number of FOXP3+ cells and survival could possibly indicate that tumour‐infiltrating T regs are of less clinical importance in DLBCL. However, these findings need to be explored in functional studies.