American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Apr 2014
Presence of B Cells in Tertiary Lymphoid Structures is Associated with a Protective Immunity in Lung Cancer Patients.
It is now well established that immune responses can take place outside of primary and secondary lymphoid organs. We previously described the presence of tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) characterized by clusters of mature dendritic cells (DCs) and T cells surrounded by B-cell follicles. We demonstrated that the density of these mature DCs was associated with favorable clinical outcome. ⋯ B-cell density represents a new prognostic biomarker for NSCLC patient survival, and makes the link between TLS and a protective B cell-mediated immunity.