Abstract

The presence of precursor to exhausted (Tpex) CD8+ Tcells is important to maintain robust immunity following treatment with immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI). Impressive responses to ICI are emerging in patients with stage II-III mismatch repair (MMR)-deficient (dMMR) colorectal cancer (CRC). We found 64% of dMMR and 15% of mismatch repair-proficient (pMMR) stage III CRCs had a high frequency of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL-hi). Furthermore, expression of TCF-1 (Tcf7) by CD8+ Tcells predicted improved patient prognosis and Tpex cells (CD3+CD8+TCF-1+PD-1+) were abundant within lymphoid aggregatesof stage III CRCs. In contrast, CD3+CD8+TCF-1-PD-1+ cells were more abundant at the invasive front and tumor core, while γδ Tcells were equally abundant in all tumor areas. Interestingly, no differencesin the frequency of Tpex cells were observed between TIL-hi dMMR and TIL-hi pMMR CRCs. Therefore, Tpex cell function and ICI response rates in TIL-hi CRC warrants further investigation.

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