Heterogeneity of CD8(+) tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in non-small-cell lung cancer: impact on patient prognostic assessments and comparison of quantification by different sampling strategies

摘要

Infiltration of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) by CD8(+) T lymphocytes predicts improved patient survival; however, heterogeneity of intratumoral localization complicates this assessment. Strategies for tumor sampling may not accurately represent the whole tumor. We hypothesized that sampling strategies may alter the identification of tumors with high CD8 density and affect the prognostic significance.