Tumor stroma lymphocytes in localized colon cancer: prognostic and therapeutic impact

The quantification of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) has been the subject of several studies, some of which aimed to integrate TILs into prognosis determination. The objectives of our work were to clarify the prognostic impact of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in stage II and stage III colon cancer and to study the relationship between TILs and response to treatment. Our retrospective, analytical, and prognostic study included 60 patients with localized colon cancer. TIL density was determined based on the recommendations of the International TILs Working Group. TIL density was low in 30 cases (50%) and high in 30 cases (50%). Overall survival was better in the group of patients with high TIL density (p < 0.001). In multivariate analysis, intrastromal TIL density was independently associated with overall survival and relapse-free survival. Regarding therapeutic impact, overall survival and relapse-free survival in patients receiving combination chemotherapy were better when stromal TIL density was high, regardless of stage.