Immune Cellular Patterns Predicting Lymph Node Status Helps Personalized Management of Stage T1 Esophageal Squamous...

Endoscopic resection preserves esophageal integrity in stage T1 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), but its inability to address regional lymph node metastasis (LNM) necessitates novel strategies for risk stratification. This study aimed to characterize the immune microenvironmental features predictive of LNM in stage T1 ESCC and explore their implications for personalized management. We analyzed clinical data from 938 patients with stage T1 ESCC, evaluating the prognostic significance of clinicopathological factors (including LNM and lymphovascular invasion [LVI]) and immune parameters through survival analyses; multiplex immunofluorescence was performed to quantify spatial immune cell distributions within tumor nests and stromal compartments. As a result, LNM and LVI emerged as independent prognostic determinants; patients stratified by nodal status and LVI revealed distinct outcomes: LNM-/LVI- cohorts exhibited optimal progression-free survival and overall survival, whereas LNM+/LVI+ subgroups had the poorest outcomes. Notably, LNM+/LVI- patients demonstrated worse prognosis compared with LNM-/LVI+ cases (median progression-free survival, 28 vs 41 months, P = .003; overall survival, 35 vs 53 months, P < .001). Multiplex immunofluorescence spatial analysis identified 2 immune signatures strongly associated with LNM: (1) elevated CD8+FOXP3+/CD8+ T-cell ratio within cancer nests (P = .001) and (2) reduced spatial proximity between CD8+FOXP3- T cells and FOXP3+ cells (P < .001). The identified immune topographies (CD8+FOXP3+/CD8+ T-cell ratio within cancer nests and spatial proximity between CD8+FOXP3- T cells and FOXP3+ cells) provide novel biomarkers for preoperative LNM prediction. Integration of these immune signatures with clinical risk factors could optimize therapeutic decision-making between endoscopic resection and radical esophagectomy in stage T1 ESCC.