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Immune heroes hidden in tumors: How do tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes affect prognosis?
Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) are white blood cells that infiltrate into tumors from the blood. These cells are receiving increasing attention in cancer research because they may become the key to anti-cancer treatment. This article will delve into the importance of TILs in the tumor microenvironment, their characteristics and their impact on prognosis.
The presence of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes is often associated with improved clinical outcome.
Definition and characteristics of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes
TILs mainly include T cells and B cells, which belong to a broad category of tumor-infiltrating immune cells. Their abundance varies with tumor type and stage of development, and in some cases correlates with disease prognosis. Studies have shown that TILs are usually found in the tumor stroma and within the tumor.
For the detection of TILs, CD3 markers are usually used to identify lymphocytes in tumor samples. Gene expression technologies such as RNA sequencing are also used to infer the infiltration status of immune cells, which allows us to systematically study the tumor microenvironment in various cancers.
An active tumor immune environment usually indicates a better prognosis.
Application of TIL in autologous cell therapy
TILs are used in an experimental autologous cell therapy (Contego), specifically for patients with metastatic melanoma. TIL therapy can generate immune responses to known and unknown tumor antigens, showing broad potential and flexibility.
The history and progress of adoptive T cell transfer therapy
The use of TILs as an adoptive cell transfer therapy began with the pioneering work of Dr. Steven Rosenberg's team at the National Cancer Institute. For more than two decades, Dr. Rosenberg and his team have conducted clinical trials for melanoma and established standard procedures for TIL therapy at centers around the world.
Clinical success of TIL therapy
Studies have shown that when TIL therapy is combined with high-dose IL-2, patient response rates approach 50% or more, and these results have been repeatedly confirmed in different clinical trials. Many treated patients experience long-term tumor regression, and some patients still have no detectable tumor remaining years later.
Tumor reduction of 50% or more was observed in about half of the patients.
Relationship between TILs and cancer treatment
Clinically, TIL therapy shows higher response rates and more durable responses when combined with previous immunotherapy (such as IL-2 and anti-CTLA4), which implies synergy between early immunotherapy and TIL therapy effect.
Currently, many studies are exploring the combined use of chemotherapy drugs and TIL therapy to evaluate the improvement in response rate and synergistic efficacy.
In this context, the importance of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes cannot be underestimated, not only for their role in the tumor microenvironment, but they may also provide new ideas for future cancer treatment directions. As we learn more about these immune heroes, we can't help but ask, can future treatment strategies more effectively utilize TILs to combat various tumor types?
