ArticleCureus2025
Association of Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes (TILs) With Pathological Complete Response to Neoadjuvant Therapy in Breast Cancer.
Article in Cureus, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Early identification of neoadjuvant therapy non-response via multimodal immune-imaging biomarkers in breast cancer.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundBreast cancer remains a major global health challenge, with tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) emerging as a potential biomarker of response to neoadjuvant therapy. This study aimed to evaluate the association between stromal TILs and pathological complete response (pCR) across different molecular subtypes of breast cancer within a South Asian population. MATERIALS AND
methodsA cross-sectional analytical study was conducted at the Department of Oncology, Sindh Medical College, Karachi, from February 15, 2025, to August 15, 2025. A total of 110 female patients with histologically confirmed breast cancer who received standard neoadjuvant therapy and subsequently underwent surgery were included. The cohort comprised all major molecular subtypes (Luminal A, Luminal B, HER2-positive, and triple-negative). HER2-positive patients received anti-HER2-targeted therapy (trastuzumab ± pertuzumab), while triple-negative patients received standard chemotherapy. Stromal TILs were evaluated on pre-treatment biopsy specimens stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E), following the International Immuno-Oncology Biomarker Working Group guidelines. A pre-specified cut-off of 20% was used to categorize TILs as low or high, consistent with prior studies and regional validation protocols. Statistical analyses included chi-square tests and multivariate logistic regression to identify independent predictors of pCR.
resultsThe mean age of participants was 48.6 ± 10.2 years, and 58 (52.7%) were postmenopausal. Overall, 40 (36.4%) patients achieved pCR. High TILs were observed in 50 (45.5%) cases and were significantly associated with higher pCR rates compared to those with low TILs (28/50, 56.0% vs. 12/60, 20.0%; p < 0.001). In multivariate analysis, high TILs (adjusted OR 5.25; 95% CI 2.10-13.1; p < 0.001), HER2-positive subtype (adjusted OR 2.10; 95% CI 0.90-4.92; p = 0.08), and triple-negative subtype (adjusted OR 1.75; 95% CI 0.65-4.72; p = 0.27) independently predicted higher pCR rates.
conclusionHigh stromal TILs were strongly associated with improved pathological complete response following neoadjuvant therapy, particularly in HER2-positive and triple-negative breast cancer subtypes. Routine TIL assessment offers a simple, cost-effective, and clinically meaningful biomarker for predicting therapeutic response and guiding individualized treatment strategies, especially within resource-limited regional settings.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.