Background: Current evidence highlights the potential role of tumorinfiltrating lymphocytes (TILS) as a prognostic factor in many types of tumors. The TILs (CD4 and CD8) are being studied with different methods such as immunohistochemistry and optical microscopy. The main objective of our work is to identify TILS in patients with NSCLC, classified as present or absent, and its relation to progression free survival (PFS). Method: Retrospective and analytical study of Instituto Oncológico de Córdoba, from 2004 to 2019. 187 patients with stage IIIB and IV NSCLC were analyzed. TILS are descriptively classified as present or absent. Survival curve was calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Results: 63% of patients had adenocarcinoma and 37% squamous cell carcinoma. 72% were men. 82% were smokers. 65% of patients with squamous histology and % 58 with adenocarcinoma, showed TILS. Patients with adenocarcinoma with TILS present had higher PFS 13.3 months, compared to patients with absent, 8.8 months. These differences were statistically significant (PFS: p¼0.004). The patients with squamous cell carcinoma with TILS had 10.8 months PFS. Those who had infiltrated absent had a PFS of 5.6 months. These differences were also statistically significant (PFS: p ¼ 0.001). Conclusion: Our study shows that patients whose pathological samples presented inflammatory infiltrate had higher PFS. The presence of TILS could be used as an important prognostic factor in this patient population.
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