Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocyte Abundance Prognostic in Breast Cancer

THURSDAY, April 18, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- For patients with early-stage triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) who undergo surgery without chemotherapy, tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) abundance is associated with improved survival, according to a study published online April 2 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Roberto A. Leon-Ferre, M.D., from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and colleagues examined the association of TIL abundance in breast cancer tissue with survival among patients with early-stage TNBC who were treated with locoregional therapy in a retrospective pooled analysis of individual patient-level data from 13 participating centers. A total of 1,966 participants diagnosed with TNBC between 1979 and 2017 who received treatment with surgery, with or without radiotherapy but without chemotherapy, were included.

The researchers found that the median TIL level was 15 percent, and 417 (21 percent) and 1,300 (66 percent) patients had a TIL ≥50 percent and

"These results suggest that breast tissue TIL abundance is a prognostic factor for patients with early-stage TNBC," the authors write.

Several authors disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical industry.

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