Department of General Surgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
Ann Med. 2023 Dec;55(1):114-126. doi: 10.1080/07853890.2022.2153911.
High endothelial venules (HEV) and tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) are associated with clinical outcomes of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). However, because HEV are components of TLS, there have been few studies of the role of the HEV proportion in TLS (HEV/TLS). This study investigated the role of the HEV/TLS and its relationship with the tumor immune microenvironment in CRC.
A retrospective analysis of 203 cases of tissue pathologically diagnosed as CRC after general surgery was performed at the First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University from January 2014 to July 2017. Paraffin sections were obtained from the paracancerous intestinal mucosal tissues. The area of HEV and TLS and immune cells were detected by immunohistochemistry. We further divided the positive HEV expression group into the high HEV/TLS group and the low HEV/TLS group by the average area of HEV/TLS. After grouping, the data were also analyzed using the chi-square test, Kaplan-Meier method, and univariate and multivariate Cox proportional risk regression analyses. A correlation analysis of the HEV/TLS and immune cells as well as angiogenesis was performed.
Patients with a high HEV/TLS in CRC tissue were associated with longer OS, DFS and lower TNM stage. Meanwhile, CRC tissue with a high HEV/TLS showed a greater ability to recruit the CD3+ T cells, CD8+ T cells and M1 macrophages and correlated with less angiogenesis. Conclusively, high HEV/TLS links to the favorable prognosis of CRC patients and correlated with anti-tumor immune microenvironment, which can be a potential biomarker for prognosis of CRC patients.
A high HEV/TLS is associated with a favorable prognosis for CRC and is correlated with the anti-tumor immune microenvironment. Therefore, it is a potential biomarker of the CRC prognosis.KEY MESSAGESHigh HEV/TLS is associated with a favorable prognosis for CRC.High HEV/TLS correlated with the anti-tumor immune microenvironment of CRC and can serve as a novel prognostic biomarker.
高内皮静脉（HEV）和三级淋巴结构（TLS）与结直肠癌（CRC）患者的临床结局相关。然而，由于 HEV 是 TLS 的组成部分，因此很少有研究涉及 TLS 中 HEV 比例（HEV/TLS）的作用。本研究探讨了 HEV/TLS 的作用及其与 CRC 肿瘤免疫微环境的关系。
对 2014 年 1 月至 2017 年 7 月在暨南大学第一附属医院接受普通外科治疗的 203 例组织病理诊断为 CRC 的病例进行回顾性分析。获得癌旁肠黏膜组织的石蜡切片。通过免疫组织化学检测 HEV 和 TLS 以及免疫细胞的面积。我们进一步通过平均 HEV/TLS 面积将阳性 HEV 表达组分为高 HEV/TLS 组和低 HEV/TLS 组。分组后，还通过卡方检验、Kaplan-Meier 法以及单变量和多变量 Cox 比例风险回归分析对数据进行分析。对 HEV/TLS 与免疫细胞和血管生成进行相关性分析。
CRC 组织中 HEV/TLS 较高的患者总生存期（OS）、无病生存期（DFS）更长，且 TNM 分期更低。同时，CRC 组织中 HEV/TLS 较高的患者招募 CD3+T 细胞、CD8+T 细胞和 M1 巨噬细胞的能力更强，且与血管生成较少相关。总之，高 HEV/TLS 与 CRC 患者的良好预后相关，并与抗肿瘤免疫微环境相关，可能成为 CRC 患者预后的潜在生物标志物。
高 HEV/TLS 与 CRC 的良好预后相关，并与 CRC 的抗肿瘤免疫微环境相关，因此是 CRC 预后的潜在生物标志物。
高 HEV/TLS 与 CRC 的预后良好相关。高 HEV/TLS 与 CRC 的抗肿瘤免疫微环境相关，并可作为一种新的预后标志物。
