ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Breast Cancer
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1538326
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvancements in Targeted Neoadjuvant and Adjuvant Therapies for Drug-Resistant Breast CancersView all articles
Correlation Study of Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes Combined with Residual Cancer Burden and Prognosis in Breast Cancer Patients Receiving Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy
Provisionally accepted
Zexin Hou1*
Xueyuan An2Guangmin Meng1Hongmei Zhao3Shanghua Liao4Xiaomin Long1Lingjun Zou1Wen Wu1Li Feng1Guanghui Liao1*- 1The Second Affiliated Hospital, Guizhou Medical University, Kaili, China
- 2Department of Pathology, Shengli Oilfield Central Hospital, Dongying, China
- 3Department of Oncology, First People's Hospital of Yibin, Yibin, China
- 4Xinzhou town center health center, Kaili, China
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This study investigates the feasibility of utilizing a combination of tumorinfiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and residual cancer burden (RCB) to predict the prognosis of breast cancer (BC) individuals post-neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). Methods: Patients with BC who underwent surgery following NAC were recruited from three medical centers for this research. RCB and TIL levels were determined using established guidelines, and the integration of RCB and TIL assessments was termed "RCB-TILs". The relationship between RCB-TILs and patients' clinicopathological variables was analyzed, alongside the link between RCB-TILs and disease-free survival (DFS).The study comprised 242 BC patients who underwent NAC, among whom 98 were identified as RCB-TILs (+), while 144 were classified as RCB-TILs (-). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that RCB-TILs (+) served as an independent factor impacting recurrence following NAC across all BC patients (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.225, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.099 -0.508, P < 0.001), including hormone receptorpositive patients (HR = 0.213, 95%CI: 0.067 -0.682, P = 0.009), HER2-positive patients (HR = 0.216, 95%CI: 0.048 -0.968, P = 0.045), and those with triple-negative BC (HR = 0.220, 95%CI: 0.049 -0.989, P = 0.048). Conclusions: RCB-TILs (+) are correlated with extended DFS in BC patients who have undergone surgery post-NAC. In these individuals, RCB-TILs may provide a more sensitive predictor of DFS than RCB or TILs individually.
Keywords: breast cancer, Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, Residual cancer burden, Disease-Free Survival, ROC
Received: 02 Dec 2024; Accepted: 22 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Hou, An, Meng, Zhao, Liao, Long, Zou, Wu, Feng and Liao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Zexin Hou, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Guizhou Medical University, Kaili, China
Guanghui Liao, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Guizhou Medical University, Kaili, China
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