Prognostic Significance of Tumor-Infiltrating B Cells and Plasma Cells in Human Cancer

• Published in: Clinical cancer research Vol. 24; no. 24; pp. 6125 - 6135
• Main Authors: Wouters, Maartje C A, Nelson, Brad H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 15.12.2018
• Subjects: Animals; B-Lymphocyte Subsets - immunology; B-Lymphocyte Subsets - metabolism; B-Lymphocyte Subsets - pathology; Biomarkers; Humans; Immunophenotyping; Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating - immunology; Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating - metabolism; Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating - pathology; Neoplasms - immunology; Neoplasms - mortality; Neoplasms - pathology; Neoplasms - therapy; Phenotype; Plasma Cells - immunology; Plasma Cells - metabolism; Plasma Cells - pathology; Prognosis; T-Lymphocyte Subsets - immunology; T-Lymphocyte Subsets - metabolism; T-Lymphocyte Subsets - pathology; Tumor Microenvironment - immunology
• ISSN: 1078-0432; 1557-3265
• DOI: 10.1158/1078-0432.ccr-18-1481

There is abundant evidence that tumor-infiltrating CD8 T cells contribute positively to antitumor immunity; however, the role of tumor-infiltrating B cells (TIL-B) and plasma cells (PC) remains controversial, leading to differing opinions about whether immunotherapies should be designed to enhance or inhibit these cells. Through a comprehensive PubMed search, we reviewed publications with cohorts of 50 or more cases in which the prognostic value of TIL-B/PC was assessed by immunohistochemistry and/or gene-expression analysis. Sixty-nine studies representing 19 cancers met our review criteria. The large majority of studies assessed TIL-B by immunohistochemical detection of CD20. Of these, 50.0% reported a positive prognostic effect for CD20 TIL-B, whereas the remainder found a neutral (40.7%) or negative (9.3%) effect. These differences in prognostic effect were not attributable to cancer type, other clinicopathologic factors, or differing technical approaches. The prognostic significance of TIL-B/PC was generally concordant with that of CD3 and/or CD8 T cells, and the prognostic effect of T cells was generally stronger when TIL-B and/or PC were also present. Additionally, 21 studies inferred the presence of TIL-B/PC from gene-expression data, and a large majority reported a positive prognostic effect. Although more studies are required involving additional cancer types and independent patient cohorts, the weight of evidence supports a positive role for TIL-B and PC in antitumor immunity, suggesting that enhancement of these responses should be considered in the design of cancer immunotherapies.