Tertiary lymphoid structures in desmoplastic melanoma have increased lymphocyte density, lymphocyte proliferation, and immune cross talk with tumor when compared to non-desmoplastic melanomas.

ABSTRACT: Tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) are ectopic lymphoid structures that can arise in human cancers and are associated with improved overall survival (OS) and response to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) in several cancers, including non-desmoplastic metastatic melanoma (NDMM). Desmoplastic melanoma (DM) has one of the highest response rates to ICB, and we previously identified that primary DM (PDM) contains TLS. Despite the association of TLS with survival and ICB response, it is unknown whether TLS or associated markers of immune activity can differ between PDM and NDMM. We hypothesized that PDM would contain higher frequencies of TLS than NDMM, that T and B-cell densities and proliferation would be greater in TLS of PDM than TLS of NDMM, and that proliferation rates of T and B-cells in P

SUBMITTER: Edmonds NL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9828737 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature