Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34585125›Full record

ArticleEClinicalMedicine2021

The association between CD8+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and the clinical outcome of cancer immunotherapy: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Feng Li, Caichen Li, Xiuyu Cai, Zhanhong Xie, Liquan Zhou, Bo Cheng, Ran Zhong, Shan Xiong, Jianfu Li, Zhuxing Chen and 3 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in EClinicalMedicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 231 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
231citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
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

231 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Association of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes with clinical outcomes in patients with triple-negative breast cancer receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2025
    Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Guideline
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  6. CD8 PET imaging with [Journal for immunotherapy of cancer · 2026
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  9. Duvelisib with Docetaxel for Patients with Anti-PD-1 Refractory, Recurrent, or Metastatic Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma.Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research · 2025
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171 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

13 authors.

Feng LiDepartment of Thoracic Surgery and Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, China State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease & National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou, China.
Caichen LiDepartment of Thoracic Surgery and Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, China State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease & National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou, China.
Xiuyu CaiDepartment of General Internal Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
Zhanhong XieDepartment of Respiratory Medicine, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease and National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou, China.
Liquan ZhouDepartment of Thoracic Surgery and Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, China State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease & National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou, China.
Bo ChengDepartment of Thoracic Surgery and Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, China State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease & National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou, China.
Ran ZhongDepartment of Thoracic Surgery and Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, China State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease & National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou, China.
Shan XiongDepartment of Thoracic Surgery and Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, China State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease & National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou, China.
Jianfu LiDepartment of Thoracic Surgery and Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, China State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease & National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou, China.
Zhuxing ChenDepartment of Thoracic Surgery and Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, China State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease & National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou, China.
Ziwen YuDepartment of Thoracic Surgery and Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, China State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease & National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou, China.
Jianxing HeDepartment of Thoracic Surgery and Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, China State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease & National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou, China.
Wenhua LiangDepartment of Thoracic Surgery and Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, China State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease & National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe responses of cancer patients to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) vary in success. CD8+ tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) play a key role in killing tumor cells. This study aims to evaluate the prognostic role of CD8+ TILs in cancer patients treated with ICIs.

methodsWe systematically searched all publications from PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library until 12 Jul 2021 without any restriction of language or article types. Studies assessing high versus low CD8+ TILs in predicting efficacy and survival of various cancer patients were included. The outcomes included overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and objective response rate (ORR). The study protocol is prospectively registered on PROSPERO (registration number CRD42021233654).

findingsFindings: A total of 33 studies consisting of 2559 cancer patients were included. The result showed that high CD8+ TILs were significantly associated with better OS (HR, 0.52; 95% confidence interval: 0.41-0.67;

interpretationInterpretation: Our results suggested that high intra-tumoral, stromal, or invasive marginal, but not circulating CD8+

fundingFunding: China National Science Foundation (Grant No. 82,022,048, 81,871,893), Key Project of Guangzhou Scientific Research Project (Grant No. 201,804,020,030), High-level university construction project of Guangzhou medical university (Grant No. 20,182,737, 201,721,007, 201,715,907, 2,017,160,107); National key R & D Program (Grant No. 2017YFC0907903 & 2017YFC0112704) and the Guangdong high level hospital construction "reaching peak" plan.

Indexed as

BiomarkerCancerCD8+ tumor infiltrating lymphocytesImmune checkpoint inhibitorsSurvival

Identifiers

PMID34585125
PMCPMC8452798

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.