Abstract
BackgroundMorphological evaluation of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in breast cancer is gaining momentum as an immunological biomarker. This experiment evaluates the role of TILs in distant tumors as a measure of abscopal effect from cryoablation of breast cancer.MethodsBALB/c mice underwent bilateral orthotopic transplant with 4T1-12B (triple-negative) cells. At 2 weeks, left tumors were treated by either resection (standard of care group) or cryoablation (intervention group) followed by resection of the distant right tumors 1 week posttreatment. TIL scores were calculated from hematoxylin and eosin-stained sections and phenotyped for cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) markers by immunofluorescence. Primarily resected tumors served as baseline (Tbaseline), whereas resected distant right-sided served as the readout for abscopal effect (AbsRes or AbsCryo). Mice were monitored for tumor recurrence and metastasis.ResultsThe AbsCryo had a significant mean (SD) increase in stromal (2.8 [1.1]%; p = 0.015) and invasive margin TILs (50 [12]%; p = 0.02) compared with TBaseline (1.0 [0]% and 31 [4.9]%, respectively). CTL phenotyping revealed a significant increase in mean (SD) CD8+ T cells (15.7 [12.1]; p = 0.02) and granzyme B (4.8 [3.6]; p = 0.048) for the AbsCryo compared with TBaseline (5.2 [4.7] and 2.4 [0.9], respectively). Posttreatment, the cryoablation group had no recurrence or metastasis, whereas the resected group showed local recurrence and lung metastasis in 40% of the mice. Postprocedure increase in TIL score of distant tumors was associated with decrease in tumor relapse (p = 0.02).ConclusionsCryoablation induced a robust tumor-specific TIL response compared with resection, suggesting an abscopal effect leading to the prevention of cancer recurrence and metastasis.
Highlights
Morphological evaluation of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in breast cancer is gaining momentum as an immunological biomarker
To address whether TILs in the distant tumor could serve as a biomarker of the abscopal effect resulting from local therapy of breast cancer, we used a 2-tumor mammary cancer mouse model
We found that changes in TIL scores in the abscopal-tumor appear to reflect whether mice developed recurrence and emphasize the importance of TILs for predicting long-term outcomes
Summary
Morphological evaluation of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in breast cancer is gaining momentum as an immunological biomarker. This experiment evaluates the role of TILs in distant tumors as a measure of abscopal effect from cryoablation of breast cancer. Resected tumors served as baseline (Tbaseline), whereas resected distant right-sided served as the readout for abscopal effect (AbsRes or AbsCryo). The AbsCryo had a significant mean (SD) increase in stromal (2.8 [1.1]%; p = 0.015) and invasive margin TILs (50 [12]%; p = 0.02) compared with TBaseline (1.0 [0]% and 31 [4.9]%, respectively). Cryoablation induced a robust tumor-specific TIL response compared with resection, suggesting an abscopal effect leading to the prevention of cancer recurrence and metastasis
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have