[HTML][HTML] Intratumoral T cells, recurrence, and survival in epithelial ovarian cancer

L Zhang, JR Conejo-Garcia, D Katsaros… - New England journal …, 2003 - Mass Medical Soc
L Zhang, JR Conejo-Garcia, D Katsaros, PA Gimotty, M Massobrio, G Regnani…
New England journal of medicine, 2003Mass Medical Soc
Background Although tumor-infiltrating T cells have been documented in ovarian carcinoma,
a clear association with clinical outcome has not been established. Methods We performed
immunohistochemical analysis of 186 frozen specimens from advanced-stage ovarian
carcinomas to assess the distribution of tumor-infiltrating T cells and conducted outcome
analyses. Molecular analyses were performed in some tumors by real-time polymerase
chain reaction. Results CD3+ tumor-infiltrating T cells were detected within tumor-cell islets …
Background
Although tumor-infiltrating T cells have been documented in ovarian carcinoma, a clear association with clinical outcome has not been established.
Methods
We performed immunohistochemical analysis of 186 frozen specimens from advanced-stage ovarian carcinomas to assess the distribution of tumor-infiltrating T cells and conducted outcome analyses. Molecular analyses were performed in some tumors by real-time polymerase chain reaction.
Results
CD3+ tumor-infiltrating T cells were detected within tumor-cell islets (intratumoral T cells) in 102 of the 186 tumors (54.8 percent); they were undetectable in 72 tumors (38.7 percent); the remaining 12 tumors (6.5 percent) could not be evaluated. There were significant differences in the distributions of progression-free survival and overall survival according to the presence or absence of intratumoral T cells (P<0.001 for both comparisons). The five-year overall survival rate was 38.0 percent among patients whose tumors contained T cells and 4.5 percent among patients whose tumors contained no T cells in islets. Significant differences in the distributions of progression-free survival and overall survival according to the presence or absence of intratumoral T cells (P<0.001 for both comparisons) were also seen among 74 patients with a complete clinical response after debulking and platinum-based chemotherapy: the five-year overall survival rate was 73.9 percent among patients whose tumors contained T cells and 11.9 percent among patients whose tumors contained no T cells in islets. The presence of intratumoral T cells independently correlated with delayed recurrence or delayed death in multivariate analysis and was associated with increased expression of interferon-γ, interleukin-2, and lymphocyte-attracting chemokines within the tumor. The absence of intratumoral T cells was associated with increased levels of vascular endothelial growth factor.
Conclusions
The presence of intratumoral T cells correlates with improved clinical outcome in advanced ovarian carcinoma.
The New England Journal Of Medicine