Assessing Tumor-infiltrating Lymphocytes in Solid Tumors: A Practical Review for Pathologists and Proposal for a Standardized Method From the International Immunooncology Biomarkers Working Group: Part 1: Assessing the Host Immune Response, TILs in Invasive Breast Carcinoma and Ductal Carcinoma In Situ, Metastatic Tumor Deposits and Areas for Further Research.

2017-09

Hendry, Shona

Salgado, Roberto

Gevaert, Thomas

Russell, Prudence A

John, Tom

Thapa, Bibhusal

Christie, Michael

van de Vijver, Koen

Estrada, M V

Gonzalez-Ericsson, Paula I

Sanders, Melinda

Solomon, Benjamin

Solinas, Cinzia

Van den Eynden, Gert G G M

Allory, Yves

Preusser, Matthias

Hainfellner, Johannes

Pruneri, Giancarlo

Vingiani, Andrea

Demaria, Sandra

Symmans, Fraser

Nuciforo, Paolo

Comerma, Laura

Thompson, E A

Lakhani, Sunil

Kim, Seong-Rim

Schnitt, Stuart

Colpaert, Cecile

Sotiriou, Christos

Scherer, Stefan J

Ignatiadis, Michail

Badve, Sunil

Pierce, Robert H

Viale, Giuseppe

Sirtaine, Nicolas

Penault-Llorca, Frederique

Sugie, Tomohagu

Fineberg, Susan

Paik, Soonmyung

Srinivasan, Ashok

Richardson, Andrea

Wang, Yihong

Chmielik, Ewa

Brock, Jane

Johnson, Douglas B

Balko, Justin

Wienert, Stephan

Bossuyt, Veerle

Michiels, Stefan

Ternes, Nils

Burchardi, Nicole

Luen, Stephen J

Savas, Peter

Klauschen, Frederick

Watson, Peter H

Nelson, Brad H

Criscitiello, Carmen

O'Toole, Sandra

Larsimont, Denis

de Wind, Roland

Curigliano, Giuseppe

André, Fabrice

Lacroix-Triki, Magali

van de Vijver, Mark

Rojo, Federico

Floris, Giuseppe

Bedri, Shahinaz

Sparano, Joseph

Rimm, David

Nielsen, Torsten

Kos, Zuzana

Hewitt, Stephen

Singh, Baljit

Farshid, Gelareh

Loibl, Sibylle

Allison, Kimberly H

Tung, Nadine

Adams, Sylvia

Willard-Gallo, Karen

Horlings, Hugo M

Gandhi, Leena

Moreira, Andre

Hirsch, Fred

Dieci, Maria V

Urbanowicz, Maria

Brcic, Iva

Korski, Konstanty

Gaire, Fabien

Koeppen, Hartmut

Lo, Amy

Giltnane, Jennifer

Rebelatto, Marlon C

Steele, Keith E

Zha, Jiping

Emancipator, Kenneth

Juco, Jonathan W

Denkert, Carsten

Reis-Filho, Jorge

Loi, Sherene

Fox, Stephen B

Journal Article

10.1097/PAP.0000000000000162

Assessment of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in histopathologic specimens can provide important prognostic information in diverse solid tumor types, and may also be of value in predicting response to treatments. However, implementation as a routine clinical biomarker has not yet been achieved. As successful use of immune checkpoint inhibitors and other forms of immunotherapy become a clinical reality, the need for widely applicable, accessible, and reliable immunooncology biomarkers is clear. In part 1 of this review we briefly discuss the host immune response to tumors and different approaches to TIL assessment. We propose a standardized methodology to assess TILs in solid tumors on hematoxylin and eosin sections, in both primary and metastatic settings, based on the International Immuno-Oncology Biomarker Working Group guidelines for TIL assessment in invasive breast carcinoma. A review of the literature regarding the value of TIL assessment in different solid tumor types follows in part 2. The method we propose is reproducible, affordable, easily applied, and has demonstrated prognostic and predictive significance in invasive breast carcinoma. This standardized methodology may be used as a reference against which other methods are compared, and should be evaluated for clinical validity and utility. Standardization of TIL assessment will help to improve consistency and reproducibility in this field, enrich both the quality and quantity of comparable evidence, and help to thoroughly evaluate the utility of TILs assessment in this era of immunotherapy.

link

Advances in anatomic pathology 2017; 24(5): 235-251

Advances in anatomic pathology