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Updated: May 12, 2026
Functional Characterization of Regulatory Macrophages That Inhibit Graft-reactive Immunity
Published on: June 7, 2017
Regulatory T lymphocytes are associated with less aggressive histologic features in microsatellite-unstable
David Tougeron1, Pauline Maby, Nicolas Elie
1Inserm, U1079, Faculty of Medicine, Institute for Medical Research, Rouen University Hospital, Rouen, France. davidtougeron@hotmail.fr
Background:
Colorectal cancers (CRCs) with microsatellite instability (MSI) are associated with a good prognosis and a high density of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs). We have undertaken to determine the link between TIL densities and MSI CRC histologic features.
Patients And Methods:
Using tissue microarrays, T-cell sub-population infiltration, including T cells (CD3), cytotoxic T cells (CD8) and regulatory T cells (FoxP3) were studied in 86 MSI CRCs. We separately analyzed TILs of the stromal and epithelial compartments in the tumor center, the tumoral invasion margin and associated normal tissue.
Results:
For FoxP3+ TIL density in the tumor center stromal compartment, we found a strong negative correlation with T4 stage (p = 0.01), node invasion (p<0.001) and VELIPI (vascular emboli, lymphatic invasion and perinervous invasion) criteria (p = 0.002).
Conclusion:
The strong correlation between regulatory T cell density and the absence of VELIPI criteria suggests that this sub-group of T cells is preferentially associated with less invasive tumors.
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