Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) are an emerging biomarker predictive of response to immunotherapy across a spectrum of solid organ malignancies. The characterization of TILs in gastric cancer (GC) treated with contemporary, multiagent neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) is understudied. In this retrospective investigation, we analyzed the degree of infiltration, phenotype, and spatial distribution of TILs via immunohistochemistry within resected GC specimens treated with or without NAC at a Western center. We hypothesized that NAC executes immunostimulatory roles, as evidenced by an increased number of anti-tumor TILs in the tumor microenvironment. We found significantly elevated levels of conventional and memory CD8+ T cells, as well as total TILs (CD4+, CD8+, Treg, B cells), within chemotherapy-treated tumors compared with chemotherapy-naïve specimens. We also revealed important associations between survival and pathologic responses with enhanced TIL infiltration. Taken together, our findings advocate for an immunostimulatory role of chemotherapy and underscore the potential synergistic effect of combining chemotherapy with immunotherapy in resectable gastric cancer.
肿瘤浸润淋巴细胞（TILs）作为一种新兴的生物标志物，在多种实体器官恶性肿瘤中显示出对免疫治疗反应的预测潜力。然而，在现代多药联合新辅助化疗（NAC）治疗的胃癌（GC）中，TILs的特征尚未得到充分研究。本回顾性研究通过免疫组织化学方法，分析了西方医疗中心接受或未接受NAC治疗的胃癌切除标本中TILs的浸润程度、表型及空间分布特征。我们假设NAC具有免疫刺激作用，表现为肿瘤微环境中抗肿瘤TILs数量的增加。研究发现，与未经化疗的标本相比，接受化疗的肿瘤组织中常规CD8+ T细胞、记忆CD8+ T细胞以及总TILs（包括CD4+、CD8+、调节性T细胞和B细胞）水平均显著升高。研究还揭示了TILs浸润增强与患者生存期及病理反应之间的重要关联。综上所述，本研究证实了化疗在胃癌中的免疫刺激作用，并强调了在可切除胃癌中联合化疗与免疫治疗可能产生的协同效应。
肿瘤(癌症)患者之家