Tumour infiltrating lymphocytes and ductal carcinoma in situ: The art of thinking counterintuitively

Abstract

Increasing data now suggest that an intact host immune system is required for improved outcomes, particularly in patients with HER2-positive and triple-negative invasive breast cancer (TNBC). Tumour infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) are emerging as a very promising biomarker in breast cancer, with a high potential to contribute to clinical treatment decision-making. The prognostic value of TILs has triggered efforts to use TILs as an integral biomarker in clinical trial designs aiming to identify patients with invasive TNBC that may have limited the benefit of chemotherapy due to the excellent outcome if the patient has high TILs. Furthermore, as the evidence for TILs as a predictive biomarker is becoming evident, TILs are increasingly being used as an integral biomarker in immunotherapy clinical trials [ [1] https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annonc.2021.07.007 Google Scholar ]. Tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes add prognostic information for patients with low-risk DCIS: findings from the SweDCIS randomised radiotherapy trialEuropean Journal of CancerVol. 168PreviewThe immune microenvironment is an important modulator of tumour progression and treatment response. In invasive breast cancer, assessment of tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) provides prognostic and predictive information. However, the clinical impact of TILs for ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) has not yet been demonstrated. Full-Text PDF Open Access