CD45-positive tumor infiltrating lymphocytes in early-stage hormone-positive, HER2-negative (ER+/HER2-) breast cancer: Correlation with proliferation and prognostic signature scores.

Authors

null

Mairi Lucas

Royal College of Surgeons, Dublin, Ireland

Mairi Lucas , Zak Kinsella , Claudia Aura Gonzalez , Camille Hurley , Anna Blümel , Joanna Fay , Anthony O'Grady , Verena Murphy , Chowdhury Arif Jahangir , Caoimbhe Burke , Arman Rahman , John Crown , Catherine Margaret Kelly , William M. Gallagher , Darran O'Connor

Organizations

Royal College of Surgeons, Dublin, Ireland, RCSI, Dublin, Ireland, UCD School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science, UCD Conway Institute, Dublin, Ireland, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland, RCSI Education and Research Centre, Dublin, Ireland, Department of Histopathology, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland, Cancer Trials Ireland, Dublin, Ireland, UCD, Dublin, Ireland, Conway Institute, UCD, Dublin, Ireland, NSABP/NRG Oncology, and The Irish Cooperative Oncology Research Group, Dublin, Ireland, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland, Cancer Biology and Therapeutics Laboratory, Dublin, Ireland, Department of Molecular and Cellular Therapeutics, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland

Research Funding

Other

Background: Tumour infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), have been associated in higher responses to treatment and are thought to be a prognostic marker in a number of cancer types. The role of TILs in breast cancer varies depending on the molecular subtype of the disease. In hormone positive, HER2-negative breast cancer, the significance of TILs is less clear, partly due to the paucity of data in this area. We aim to assess overall TILs in early-stage, hormone-positive, HER2-negative (ER+/HER2-) breast cancer and its relationship with proliferation index, Ki67, and the 21-gene recurrence score. Methods: Archival patient tissue samples of early-stage, ER+/HER2- breast cancer from the Irish arm of the TAILORx clinical trial were used. Full-face sections of these tumours were stained with anti-CD45 antibody (DAKA clone M0701) via the automated Leica Bond III system. A watershed cell-detection algorithm from the open-source digital pathology software, QuPath, was fine-tuned to identify true cell objects and positive immune markers. Optimised detection parameters were used to calculate the percentage of overall CD45+ cells (CD45%) within the tumour area. Patient TIL categories were dichotomised into High v Low CD45%, with 10% chosen as the threshold. CD45% was further correlated with proliferation index, clinical data, and 21-gene recurrence score. Results: 409 samples were included in the analysis. The mean CD45% was 5.96, with samples ranging from 0.13 to 78.86. The majority of samples were in the range of 0-10% of CD45% positivity with 89% (n = 367) patients in this category. Stratification of the cohort by 21-gene-recurrence score (RS) into Low, Intermediate and High, showed a statistically significantly high CD45% in patients with a High RS compared to Low RS (p = 0.0015). When divided by recurrence score group, high CD45% trended toward a lower disease free survival (DFS) when compared to low CD45%, with statistical significance found in those in the Intermediate RS chemotherapy treatment arm (p = 0.009). Conclusions: The role of TILs in ER+/HER2- breast cancer is still undefined. While a High RS was associated with a higher percentage of CD45-positive lymphocytes, the impact on recurrence and response to treatment remains unclear. Further studies to assess the role of different tumour infiltrating lymphocyte phenotypes, and the spatial distribution of assessed markers, are needed.

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Abstract Details

Meeting

2022 ASCO Annual Meeting

Session Type

Publication Only

Session Title

Breast Cancer—Local/Regional/Adjuvant

Track

Breast Cancer

Sub Track

Biologic Correlates

Citation

J Clin Oncol 40, 2022 (suppl 16; abstr e12555)

DOI

10.1200/JCO.2022.40.16_suppl.e12555

Abstract #

e12555

Abstract Disclosures