Distribution of CD4 and CD8 exhausted tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in molecular subtypes of Chinese breast cancer patients.

PURPOSE

Breast cancer (BC) is the leading cancer affecting Chinese women; however, the immune microenvironment between molecular subtypes is less reported. This study aimed to investigate the distribution of tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) subpopulations, especially exhausted CD4 and CD8 TILs in Chinese BC patients.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

A total of 133 patients with breast invasive ductal carcinoma were recruited consecutively from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2013, and TILs were detected in H&E-stained sections. Expression profiling of PD-1, CD4, and CD8 was determined by immunohistochemistry on 4 µm formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue sections. The distribution of TILs was analyzed based on hormone receptor status and molecular subtypes.

RESULTS

PD-1, CD4, and CD8 TILs distributed differently based on molecular subtypes. Compared to Luminal A, triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients had more PD-1 TILs (39/high-power field [HPF] vs 11/HPF), PD-1 helper T (CD4) cells (28/HPF vs 10/HPF), and PD-1 cytotoxic (CD8) T-cells (3/HPF vs 2/HPF).

CONCLUSION

TILs are distributed differently based on molecular subtypes. TNBC patients exhibit more PD-1 exhausted TILs, representing an inhibitory immune microenvironment. PD-1/PD-L1 pathway is a potential therapeutic target of TNBC.