Lymphocyte Response in Stage II/III Colorectal Cancer Is Important to Prognosis

It has long been known that colorectal cancer tumors having microsatellite instability (MSI) or mismatch repair (MMR) gene mutation have a better prognosis and a poorer response to chemotherapy compared with microsatellite-stable tumors. A more-intense tumor infiltration lymphocyte (TIL) response is associated both with MSI and a better prognosis but is seldom used in clinical practice as an independent prognostic indicator.

In the current prospective study, 1265 patients without Lynch syndrome who had stage II/III colorectal cancer were characterized according to MMR gene expression as proficient (p) or deficient (d) and TIL response as high or low, and combinations of these features were correlated with disease-free survival (DFS). The res…