Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27329588›Full record

SynthesisOncotarget2016

Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in breast cancer predict the response to chemotherapy and survival outcome: A meta-analysis.

Ke Wang, Jianjun Xu, Tao Zhang, Dan Xue

Open access · diamondAbstract readMeta-Analysis
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Oncotarget, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 76 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
76citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
8.4field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

76 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 128 citations in OpenAlex.

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  19. Value of a BRAFFrontiers in endocrinology · 2025
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16 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Ke WangDepartment of Oncology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310009, China.
Jianjun XuSchool of Finance, Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics, Hangzhou, 310018, China.
Tao ZhangDepartment of Oncology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310009, China.
Dan XueDepartment of Plastic Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310009, China.
Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University · CNZhejiang University of Finance and Economics · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) influence tumor prognosis and the chemotherapeutic response. Here, we quantified the clinical relevance of TILs, including the effect of TILs on lymphocyte subpopulations and assessed their consistency in breast cancer. We searched published literature from January 2000 to January 2016. The main parameters analyzed were pathological complete response (pCR) and survival outcome following chemotherapy in patients with breast cancer. Pooled odds ratio (OR) or relative risk (RR) values with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were computed using random and fixed-effects models. Subgroup and heterogeneity analyses were also conducted. Twenty-three studies, which included 13,100 patients, met the inclusion criteria. The pooled results showed that TILs were associated with clinicopathological parameters of biologically aggressive phenotypes, such as high tumor grade or estrogen/progesterone receptor negativity, but they were not correlated with human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 expression. Moreover, a high TIL level was associated with a significantly improved pCR rate compared with a low TIL level (OR, 2.81; P < 0.001), particularly in the triple-negative breast cancer subtype (OR, 4.67; P < 0.001). An analysis of lymphocyte subpopulations showed that infiltration by CD8 lymphocytes, but not by CD4 lymphocytes and Foxp3 cells, was associated with a high pCR rate. Furthermore, a high TIL level was associated with significantly longer disease-free survival and overall survival. Our present meta-analysis indicates that an increased number of TILs predicted pCR to chemotherapy and improved survival. A high TIL level, characterized mainly by the infiltration of CD8 lymphocytes, is a strong predictive and prognostic factor.

Indexed as

Breast NeoplasmsChemotherapy, AdjuvantDisease-Free SurvivalFemaleHumansLymphocytes, Tumor-InfiltratingLymphocyte SubsetsNeoadjuvant TherapyPredictive Value of TestsPrognosisSurvival Analysisbreast cancerlymphocyte infiltratesmeta-analysispathological complete response (pCR)prognosis

Identifiers

PMID27329588
PMCPMC5190096
OpenAlexW2460303553

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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 OpenQuestion graph.