TFG- Nuclear Staining as a Potential Relapse Risk Factor in Early-Stage Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES(2022)
Abstract
Nowadays, the impact of the tumor-immune microenvironment (TME) in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) prognosis and treatment response remains unclear. Thus, we evaluated the expression of PD-L1, tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), and transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) in NSCLC to identify differences in TME, detect possible new prognostic factors, and assess their relationship. We retrospectively analyzed 55 samples from patients who underwent NSCLC surgery and had over a 5-year follow-up. PD-L1 expression was determined by immunohistochemistry following standard techniques. The presence of TILs was evaluated at low magnification and classified into two categories, "intense" and "non-intense". Cytoplasmic TGF-beta staining visualization was divided into four categories, and unequivocal nuclear staining in >1% of viable tumor cells was defined as "present" or "absent". Our aim was to identify differences in disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). Tumor stage was the only objective prognostic factor for OS. PD-L1 expression and the presence of TILs had no prognostic impact, neither their combination. There seems to be a lower expression of PD-L1 and a higher expression of TILs in early stages of the disease. Our TGF-beta nuclear staining analysis was promising, since it was associated with worse DFS, revealing this protein as a possible prognostic biomarker of recurrence for resectable NSCLC.
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Key words
PD-L1,TILs,TGF-beta,prognostic factors,checkpoint inhibition,early-stage lung cancer
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