Dose-Response Association of CD8+ Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes and Survival Time in High-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer
- PMID: 29049607
- PMCID: PMC5744673
- DOI: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2017.3290
Dose-Response Association of CD8+ Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes and Survival Time in High-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer
Abstract
Importance: Cytotoxic CD8+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) participate in immune control of epithelial ovarian cancer; however, little is known about prognostic patterns of CD8+ TILs by histotype and in relation to other clinical factors.
Objective: To define the prognostic role of CD8+ TILs in epithelial ovarian cancer.
Design, setting, and participants: This was a multicenter observational, prospective survival cohort study of the Ovarian Tumor Tissue Analysis Consortium. More than 5500 patients, including 3196 with high-grade serous ovarian carcinomas (HGSOCs), were followed prospectively for over 24 650 person-years.
Exposures: Following immunohistochemical analysis, CD8+ TILs were identified within the epithelial components of tumor islets. Patients were grouped based on the estimated number of CD8+ TILs per high-powered field: negative (none), low (1-2), moderate (3-19), and high (≥20). CD8+ TILs in a subset of patients were also assessed in a quantitative, uncategorized manner, and the functional form of associations with survival was assessed using penalized B-splines.
Main outcomes and measures: Overall survival time.
Results: The final sample included 5577 women; mean age at diagnosis was 58.4 years (median, 58.2 years). Among the 5 major invasive histotypes, HGSOCs showed the most infiltration. CD8+ TILs in HGSOCs were significantly associated with longer overall survival; median survival was 2.8 years for patients with no CD8+ TILs and 3.0 years, 3.8 years, and 5.1 years for patients with low, moderate, or high levels of CD8+ TILs, respectively (P value for trend = 4.2 × 10−16). A survival benefit was also observed among women with endometrioid and mucinous carcinomas, but not for those with the other histotypes. Among HGSOCs, CD8+ TILs were favorable regardless of extent of residual disease following cytoreduction, known standard treatment, and germline BRCA1 pathogenic mutation, but were not prognostic for BRCA2 mutation carriers. Evaluation of uncategorized CD8+ TIL counts showed a near-log-linear functional form.
Conclusions and relevance: This study demonstrates the histotype-specific nature of immune infiltration and provides definitive evidence for a dose-response relationship between CD8+ TILs and HGSOC survival. That the extent of infiltration is prognostic, not merely its presence or absence, suggests that understanding factors that drive infiltration will be the key to unraveling outcome heterogeneity in this cancer.
Conflict of interest statement
Figures

References
-
- Siegel RL, Miller KD, Jemal A. Cancer Statistics, 2017. CA Cancer J Clin. 2017;67(1):7–30. - PubMed
-
- Hamanishi J, Mandai M, Ikeda T, et al. Safety and antitumor activity of anti-PD-1 antibody, Nivolumab, in patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. J Clin Oncol. 2015;33(34):4015–4022. - PubMed
-
- Zhang L, Conejo-Garcia JR, Katsaros D, et al. Intratumoral T cells, recurrence, and survival in epithelial ovarian cancer. N Engl J Med. 2003;348(3):203–213. - PubMed
-
- Tomsova M, Melichar B, Sedlakova I, Steiner I. Prognostic significance of CD3+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in ovarian carcinoma. Gynecol Oncol. 2008;108(2):415–420. - PubMed
Publication types
MeSH terms
Substances
Grants and funding
- U01 CA069417/CA/NCI NIH HHS/United States
- P30 CA016056/CA/NCI NIH HHS/United States
- UL1 TR000124/TR/NCATS NIH HHS/United States
- P30 CA138313/CA/NCI NIH HHS/United States
- K07 CA080668/CA/NCI NIH HHS/United States
- R01 CA188900/CA/NCI NIH HHS/United States
- R01 CA122443/CA/NCI NIH HHS/United States
- 10119/CRUK_/Cancer Research UK/United Kingdom
- UL1 TR001881/TR/NCATS NIH HHS/United States
- P50 CA136393/CA/NCI NIH HHS/United States
- R25 CA092049/CA/NCI NIH HHS/United States
- P50 CA159981/CA/NCI NIH HHS/United States
- M01 RR000056/RR/NCRR NIH HHS/United States
- R01 CA095023/CA/NCI NIH HHS/United States
- K07 CA143047/CA/NCI NIH HHS/United States
- R01 CA160669/CA/NCI NIH HHS/United States
- 16561/CRUK_/Cancer Research UK/United Kingdom
- 10124/CRUK_/Cancer Research UK/United Kingdom
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Other Literature Sources
Medical
Research Materials
Miscellaneous