Scientific Paper

Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes as a prognosis biomarker: "In situ immune response in colorectal cancer: In vivo veritas...": Our research activity aims to investigate the immunological microenvironment of solid tumors with an integrative approach combining large analyses with bioinformatic tools. We showed that the density of intra-tumor memory T cells (CD45RO) and cytotoxic T cells (CD8) influenced the occurrence of early events of metastasis (tumor emboli) and was strongly associated with prognosis of patients with colorectal cancers (Pagès et al, NEJM 2005). This immune criterion was a better predictor of survival than the “gold standard” histoprognostic data of tumor invasion (T stage and N) and allowed to identify a group of patients at high risk of recurrence (Galon et al, Science 2006; Pagès et al, J Clin Oncol 2009; Mlecnik et al, J Clin Oncol 2011). The availability of this immune criterion in clinical practice could significantly improve the prognostic assessment of patients and better guide the therapeutic (Fridman et al, Nat Rev Immunol 2012). A dedicated platform for the analysis of intra-tumoral immune component has been implemented in our hospital to speed up the transfer of this immune investigation into the clinic. (Talk presented at the 1st European Symposium of Biopathology, Paris, France, Jun 15, 2012)