Tertiary Lymphoid Structures, Immune Response, and Prognostic Relevance in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Abstract

We assessed the presence of ‘tertiary lymphoid structures’ (TLS) in a series of surgically treated non-small cell lung carcinomas (NSCLC). The TLS-density in the tumor periphery (pTLS) ranged from 0 to 1.8 (median 0.45), while in inner tumor areas (iTLS) ranged from 0 to 1.0 (median 0); (p < 0.0001). High pTLS-density was linked with early stage of the disease. Glycolysis-related enzyme expression (MCT1, Hexokinase 2) was linked with high pTLS-density (p < 0.05). High pTLS and iTLS densities were linked with better postoperative prognosis (p = 0.02 and p = 0.01, respectively). Assessment of TLS is a useful prognostic marker in NSCLC.

Keywords:

• Non-small-cell lung cancer
• tertiary lymphoid structures
• tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes
• prognosis

Author contributions

AG: Conception, design, immunohistochemistry analysis, writing of the paper; PC: Data collection, immunohistochemistry, writing of the paper; CAC: Data analysis, interpretation of data, writing of the paper; MIK: Conception, design, data analysis, writing of the paper.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.