Tumor infiltrating Foxp3+ regulatory T‐cells are associated with recurrence in pathologic stage I NSCLC patients

RP Petersen, MJ Campa, J Sperlazza, D Conlon… - Cancer, 2006 - Wiley Online Library
RP Petersen, MJ Campa, J Sperlazza, D Conlon, MB Joshi, DH Harpole Jr, EF Patz Jr
Cancer, 2006Wiley Online Library
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 …
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.
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