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Establishment of a Co-culture System of Patient-Derived Colorectal Tumor Organoids and Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes (TILs)
Published on: June 27, 2025
Mature Tertiary Lymphoid Structures Indicate Good Chemotherapy Response and Prognosis in Advanced Colorectal Cancer
Nobuhiro Hosoi1, Chika Komine1, Gendensuren Dorjkhorloo1
1Department of General Surgical Science Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine Maebashi Japan.
Annals of Gastroenterological Surgery
|May 18, 2026
Summary
Mature tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) in colorectal cancer (CRC) predict better chemotherapy response and survival. This immune cell biomarker indicates treatment efficacy and patient prognosis in advanced CRC.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Oncology
- Cancer Research
Background:
- Tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) are immune cell clusters implicated in anti-tumor immunity and favorable prognosis across various cancers.
- The role of TLS in predicting systemic chemotherapy efficacy, particularly in advanced colorectal cancer (CRC), remains largely unexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the potential of TLS maturity as a predictive biomarker for chemotherapy efficacy in advanced CRC patients.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of 78 advanced CRC cases with pre-chemotherapy primary tumor samples.
- Immunohistochemical assessment of TLS maturity, defined by CD23+ B cells in germinal centers.
- Correlation of TLS maturity with clinicopathological features, treatment response, tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, and survival outcomes.
Main Results:
- Patients with mature TLS exhibited significantly better chemotherapy sensitivity, progression-free survival, and overall survival.
- TLS maturity was identified as an independent predictor of therapeutic response and survival in multivariate analyses.
- Mature TLS correlated with increased CD3+ and CD8+ T-cell infiltration in both primary and metastatic tumors.
Conclusions:
- Mature TLS may enhance chemotherapeutic efficacy via immune modulation.
- TLS maturity in primary tumors serves as a promising biomarker for predicting chemotherapy response and immune status in advanced CRC, extending to metastatic sites.
