The spatial landscape of T cells in the microenvironment of stage III lung adenocarcinoma

Abstract

This study aimed to provide more information for prognostic stratification for patients through an analysis of the T-cell spatial landscape. It involved analyzing stained tissue sections of 80 patients with stage III lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) using multiplex immunofluorescence and exploring the spatial landscape of T cells and their relationship with prognosis in the center of the tumor (CT) and invasive margin (IM). In this study, multivariate regression suggested that the relative clustering of CT CD4⁺ conventional T cell (Tconv) to inducible Treg (iTreg), natural regulatory T cell (nTreg) to Tconv, terminal CD8⁺ T cell (tCD8) to helper T cell (Th), and IM Treg to tCD8 and the relative dispersion of CT nTreg to iTreg, IM nTreg to nTreg were independent risk factors for DFS. Finally, we constructed a spatial immunological score named the G_T score, which had stronger prognostic correlation than IMMUNOSCORE® based on CD3/CD8 cell densities. The spatial layout of T cells in the tumor microenvironment and the proposed G_T score can reflect the prognosis of patients with stage III LUAD more effectively than T-cell density. The exploration of the T-cell spatial landscape may suggest potential cell–cell interactions and therapeutic targets and better guide clinical decision-making. © 2024 The Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland.