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      Immunotype and immunohistologic characteristics of tumor-infiltrating immune cells are associated with clinical outcome in metastatic melanoma.

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          Abstract

          Immune cells infiltrating the microenvironment of melanoma metastases may either limit or promote tumor progression, but the characteristics that distinguish these effects are obscure. In this study, we systematically evaluated the composition and organization of immune cells that infiltrated melanoma metastases in human patients. Three histologic patterns of immune cell infiltration were identified, designated immunotypes A, B, and C. Immunotype A was characterized by no immune cell infiltrate. Immunotype B was characterized by infiltration of immune cells limited only to regions proximal to intratumoral blood vessels. Immunotype C was characterized by a diffuse immune cell infiltrate throughout a metastatic tumor. These immunotypes represented 29%, 63%, and 8% of metastases with estimated median survival periods of 15, 23, and 130 months, respectively. Notably, from immunotypes A to C, there were increasing proportions of B cells and decreasing proportions of macrophages. Overall, the predominant immune cells were T cells (53%), B cell lineage cells (33%), and macrophages (13%), with natural killer and mature dendritic cells only rarely present. Whereas higher densities of CD8(+) T cells correlated best with survival, a higher density of CD45(+) leukocytes, T cells, and B cells also correlated with increased survival. Together, our findings reveal striking differences in the immune infiltrate in melanoma metastases in patients, suggesting microenvironmental differences in immune homing receptors and ligands that affect immune cell recruitment. These findings are important, not only by revealing how the immune microenvironment can affect outcomes but also because they reveal characteristics that may help improve individualized therapy for patients with metastatic melanoma.

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          Author and article information

          Journal
          Cancer Res
          Cancer research
          American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
          1538-7445
          0008-5472
          Mar 01 2012
          : 72
          : 5
          Affiliations
          [1 ] Department of Pathology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22908, USA.
          Article
          0008-5472.CAN-11-3218 NIHMS352301
          10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-11-3218
          3306813
          22266112
          dd9b0318-b3e2-4ac2-88fb-931b634622c9
          History

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