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Review
. 2025 May 9;23(1):528.
doi: 10.1186/s12967-025-06510-6.

Tertiary lymphoid structures in gliomas: impact on tumour immunity and progression

Jiatong Chen #  1 , Yuechao Yang #  2   3 , Shuang Luan #  4 , Wenhao Xu  5   6 , Yang Gao  7   8
Affiliations
Review

Tertiary lymphoid structures in gliomas: impact on tumour immunity and progression

Jiatong Chen et al. J Transl Med. .

Abstract

Tertiary lymphoid structures (TLSs) are ectopic lymphoid formations that develop in chronically inflamed tissues, including various solid tumours. In the context of gliomas, the presence of TLSs has recently attracted considerable attention because of their potential implications in tumour immunology and therapy. The tumour immune microenvironment (TIME) plays a crucial role in cancer progression, and tumour-infiltrating immune cells (TILs) are key players in this environment. These immune cell aggregates, known as TLSs, display distinct characteristics across different solid tumours. However, central nervous system (CNS) tumours are highly heterogeneous, and the immune environment within these tumours is often more deficient than that of peripheral tissue tumours. This leads to differences in the formation and function of TLSs in CNS tumours. These variations are particularly relevant in the context of glioma immunotherapy and could have important implications for treatment strategies. This review focuses on the composition and function of TLSs, examines the complexity of the glioblastoma (GBM) immune microenvironment, and highlights the unique characteristics of TLSs in GBM, providing new theoretical insights and practical foundations for targeting TLSs in glioma immunotherapy.

Keywords: Gliomas; Immunotherapy; Tertiary lymphoid structure.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: Not applicable. Consent for publication: All the authors have read and approved the final manuscript. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Interaction of LTo and LTi
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Location and morphology of TLSs in mouse glioma
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
AAV-LIGHT treatment for GBM
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Injection or implantation of iTLS
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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