CD20⁺ tumor-infiltrating immune cells and CD204⁺ M2 macrophages are associated with prognosis in thymic carcinoma.

ABSTRACT: Thymic carcinoma is a rare malignant disease with no standard systemic chemotherapy. The purpose of the present study was to investigate tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TIIC) in the tumor microenvironment (TME), focusing on the impact of TIIC and program death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression on clinical outcomes in thymic cancer. Patients with thymic carcinoma resected between 1973 and 2017 were investigated. The tissue specimens were analyzed through immunohistochemical staining to elucidate the prognostic effects of TIIC, their ratios and PD-L1 in a preliminary cohort (n = 10). The density of TIIC as well as PD-L1 expression was evaluated in intraepithelial and tumor-stromal areas on the representative whole section of tumors. The immune factors showing significant association with disease-

SUBMITTER: Sato J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7293080 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature