Impact of tertiary lymphoid structures on prognosis and therapeutic response in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

Nabeel Merali; Maria-Danae Jessel; Edward H Arbe-Barnes; Wing Yu Ruby Lee; Martha Gismondi; Tarak Chouari; James W O'Brien; Bhavik Patel; Daniel Osei-Bordom; Timothy A Rockall; Shivan Sivakumar; Nicola Annels; Adam E Frampton

doi:10.1016/j.hpb.2024.04.009

Impact of tertiary lymphoid structures on prognosis and therapeutic response in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

HPB (Oxford). 2024 Apr 26:S1365-182X(24)01275-9. doi: 10.1016/j.hpb.2024.04.009. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Section of Oncology, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Science, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK; Department of Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary (HPB) Surgery, Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Egerton Road, Guildford, UK; Minimal Access Therapy Training Unit (MATTU), Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Egerton Road, Guildford, UK.
² Section of Oncology, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Science, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK.
³ UCL Institute of Immunity and Transplantation, The Pears Building, Pond Street, London, UK.
⁴ Department of Surgery and Cancer, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, UK.
⁵ Department of Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary (HPB) Surgery, Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Egerton Road, Guildford, UK.
⁶ Section of Oncology, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Science, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK; Department of Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary (HPB) Surgery, Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Egerton Road, Guildford, UK.
⁷ Minimal Access Therapy Training Unit (MATTU), Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Egerton Road, Guildford, UK.
⁸ Liver and Digestive Health, University College London, Royal Free Hospital, Pond St, London, UK.
⁹ Oncology Department and Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, Birmingham Medical School, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
¹⁰ Section of Oncology, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Science, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK; Department of Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary (HPB) Surgery, Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Egerton Road, Guildford, UK; Minimal Access Therapy Training Unit (MATTU), Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Egerton Road, Guildford, UK. Electronic address: aframpton@nhs.net.

PMID: 38729813
DOI: 10.1016/j.hpb.2024.04.009

Abstract

Background: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is known to have a heterogeneous desmoplastic tumour microenvironment (TME) with a large number of immunosuppressive cells. Recently, high B-cell infiltration in PDAC has received growing interest as a potential therapeutic target.

Methods: Our literature review summarises the characteristics of tumour-associated tertiary lymphoid structures (TLSs) and highlight the key studies exploring the clinical outcomes of TLSs in PDAC patients and the direct effect on the TME.

Results: The location, density and maturity stages of TLSs within tumours play a key role in determining the prognosis and is a new emerging target in cancer immunotherapy.

Discussion: TLS development is imperative to improve the prognosis of PDAC patients. In the future, studying the genetics and immune characteristics of tumour infiltrating B cells and TLSs may lead towards enhancing adaptive immunity in PDAC and designing personalised therapies.

Publication types

Review