Molecular analysis of primary melanoma T cells identifies patients at risk for metastatic recurrence
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Primary melanomas >1 mm thickness are potentially curable by resection, but can recur metastatically. We assessed the prognostic value of the T-cell fraction (TCFr) and repertoire T-cell clonality, measured by high-throughput sequencing of the T-cell receptor beta-chain in T2-T4 primary melanomas (n = 199). TCFr accurately predicted progression-free survival and was independent of thickness, ulceration, mitotic rate and age. TCFr was second only to tumor thickness in its predictive value, using a gradient-boosted model. For accurate progression-free survival prediction, adding TCFr to tumor thickness was superior to adding any other histopathological variable. Furthermore, a TCFr >20% was protective regardless of tumor ulceration status, mitotic rate or presence of nodal disease. TCFr is a quantitative molecular assessment that predicts metastatic recurrence in primary melanoma patients whose disease has been resected surgically. The present study suggests that a successful T-cell-mediated, antitumour response can be present in primary melanomas.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Nature cancer |
Volume | 1 |
Issue number | 2 |
Pages (from-to) | 197-209 |
Number of pages | 26 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2020 |
Externally published | Yes |
- TUMOR-INFILTRATING LYMPHOCYTES, CUTANEOUS MELANOMA, MALIGNANT-MELANOMA, PROGNOSTIC VALUE, CTLA-4 BLOCKADE, NODE STATUS, SURVIVAL, IPILIMUMAB, PREDICTION, CANCER
Research areas
ID: 257193047