The prognostic value of tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes, programmed cell death protein-1 and programmed cell death ligand-1 in Stage I–III triple-negative breast cancer

Background Tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) represent a robust biological prognostic biomarker in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC); however, the contribution of different subsets of immune cells is unclear. We investigated the prognostic value of immune markers, including stromal TILs (sTILs), CD8 + T and FOPX3 + T cells, PD-1 and PD-L1 in non-metastatic TNBC. Methods In total, 259 patients with Stage I–III TNBC were reviewed. The density of sTILs along with the presence of total (t), stromal (s), and intratumoral (i) CD8 + T cells and FOPX3 + T cells were evaluated by haematoxylin and eosin and immunohistochemical staining. Immunohistochemical staining of PD-1, PD-L1 was also conducted. Results All immune markers were positively correlated with each other ( P < 0.05). In the multivariate analysis, sTILs ( P = 0.046), tCD8 + T cells ( P = 0.024), iCD8 + T cells ( P = 0.050) and PD-1 ( P = 0.039) were identified as independent prognostic factors for disease-free survival (DFS). Further analysis showed that tCD8 + T cells ( P = 0.026), iCD8 + T cells ( P = 0.017) and PD-1 ( P = 0.037) increased the prognostic value for DFS beyond that of the classic clinicopathological factors and sTILs. Conclusions In addition to sTILs, inclusion of tCD8 + T, iCD8 + T cells, or PD-1 may further refine the prognostic model for non-metastatic TNBC beyond that including classical factors alone.