Zhang Na-Na, Qu Feng-Jin, Liu Hao, Li Zhu-Jun, Zhang Yu-Chi, Han Xuan, Zhu Zi-Yu, Lv Yi
Center for Regenerative and Reconstructive Medicine, Med-X Institute of Western China Science and Technology Innovation Harbour, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, Shaanxi, China.
National Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Precision Surgery and Regenerative Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710061, Shaanxi, China.
Cancer Cell Int. 2021 Oct 15;21(1):536. doi: 10.1186/s12935-021-02242-x.
Tertiary lymphoid structures (TLSs), organizationally resemble lymph nodes, are frequently present in breast cancer (BCa). It is usually, but not always, associated with a positive prognosis or immunotherapy response in cancer patients. This meta-analysis was performed to assess the prognostic and clinical impact of TLSs in BCa.
We conducted a systematic search in PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and WanFang Database to obtain eligible research data up to May 30, 2021. This meta-analysis is focusing on the studies evaluated the prognostic value of TLSs and the associated clinicopathologic indicators, related gene expression and survival. STATA software 16.0 software was used to assess the prognostic significance and clinical impact of TLSs.
Nine studies involved with 2281 cases were incorporated in this meta-analysis, in which four of them evaluated the prognostic value of TLSs. There are 6 studies assessed the relationship of TLSs and 4 studies investigated the clinicopathologic parameters as well as the key gene expression, respectively. The results showed the presence of TLSs were predicting a better OS (HR = 0.61, 95% CI: 0.51-0.73, p < 0.001) and DFS (HR = 0.40, 95% CI: 0.17-0.93, p < 0.001) of BCa patients. It also revealed that the presence of TLSs was significantly correlated with tumor differentiation (p < 0.001), pTNM stage (p < 0.001), lymph node metastasis (p < 0.001), and TILs density (p < 0.001) of BCa, and the expression of Her2 (p < 0.001), ER (p < 0.001), PR (p < 0.001) and Ki67 (p = 0.009) of the tumor cell.
Our results indicated that high levels of TLSs could predict a favorable prognosis for BCa. Moreover, the TLSs were significantly correlated with the clinicopathological indicators and the critical gene expression of BCa, indicating its potential clinical impact on BCa patients.
三级淋巴结构（TLSs）在组织学上类似于淋巴结，在乳腺癌（BCa）中经常出现。它通常（但并非总是）与癌症患者的良好预后或免疫治疗反应相关。进行这项荟萃分析以评估TLSs在BCa中的预后和临床影响。
我们在PubMed、Embase、Cochrane图书馆、Web of Science、中国国家知识基础设施和万方数据库中进行了系统检索，以获取截至2021年5月30日的合格研究数据。这项荟萃分析侧重于评估TLSs预后价值以及相关临床病理指标、相关基因表达和生存情况的研究。使用STATA软件16.0评估TLSs的预后意义和临床影响。
本荟萃分析纳入了9项涉及2281例病例的研究，其中4项评估了TLSs的预后价值。分别有6项研究评估了TLSs的关系，4项研究调查了临床病理参数以及关键基因表达。结果显示，TLSs的存在预示着BCa患者有更好的总生存期（HR = 0.61，95%CI：0.51 - 0.73，p < 0.001）和无病生存期（HR = 0.40，95%CI：0.17 - 0.93，p < 0.001）。还显示TLSs的存在与BCa的肿瘤分化（p < 0.001）、pTNM分期（p < 0.001）、淋巴结转移（p < 0.001）和肿瘤浸润淋巴细胞（TILs）密度（p < 0.001）以及肿瘤细胞的Her2（p < 0.001）、雌激素受体（ER，p < 0.001）、孕激素受体（PR，p < 0.001）和Ki67（p = 0.009）表达显著相关。
我们的结果表明，高水平的TLSs可预测BCa的良好预后。此外，TLSs与BCa的临床病理指标和关键基因表达显著相关，表明其对BCa患者具有潜在的临床影响。
