Tertiary lymphoid structures in cancer: maturation and induction

Yulu Chen; Yuhao Wu; Guorong Yan; Guolong Zhang

doi:10.3389/fimmu.2024.1369626

Tertiary lymphoid structures in cancer: maturation and induction

Front Immunol. 2024 Apr 16:15:1369626. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1369626. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Yulu Chen^{1

2

3}, Yuhao Wu^{1

2

3}, Guorong Yan^{1

2

3}, Guolong Zhang^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Phototherapy, Shanghai Skin Disease Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China.
² Skin Cancer Center, Shanghai Skin Disease Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China.
³ Institute of Photomedicine, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China.

Abstract

Tertiary lymphoid structure (TLS) is an ectopic lymphocyte aggregate formed in peripheral non-lymphoid tissues, including inflamed or cancerous tissue. Tumor-associated TLS serves as a prominent center of antigen presentation and adaptive immune activation within the periphery, which has exhibited positive prognostic value in various cancers. In recent years, the concept of maturity regarding TLS has been proposed and mature TLS, characterized by well-developed germinal centers, exhibits a more potent tumor-suppressive capacity with stronger significance. Meanwhile, more and more evidence showed that TLS can be induced by therapeutic interventions during cancer treatments. Thus, the evaluation of TLS maturity and the therapeutic interventions that induce its formation are critical issues in current TLS research. In this review, we aim to provide a comprehensive summary of the existing classifications for TLS maturity and therapeutic strategies capable of inducing its formation in tumors.

Keywords: cancer treatment; immunotherapy; maturity; tertiary lymphoid structure; tumor microenvironment.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Germinal Center / immunology
Humans
Neoplasms* / immunology
Neoplasms* / pathology
Neoplasms* / therapy
Tertiary Lymphoid Structures* / immunology
Tertiary Lymphoid Structures* / pathology
Tumor Microenvironment / immunology

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. The authors had full control over the content and development of this article. This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program (No. 2022YFC2504700 and 2022YFC2504705), and the Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 82272761).