Cardenas-Quesada, NuriaDiaz-Beltran, LeticiaRosa-Garrido, CarmenMarquez-Lobo, BelgicaSabio-Gonzalez, AdelaLuque-Barona, Rafael JNuñez, Maria IsabelSanchez-Rovira, Pedro2023-05-032023-05-032022-11-06Cárdenas-Quesada N, Díaz-Beltrán L, Rosa-Garrido C, Márquez-Lobo B, Sabio-González A, Luque-Barona RJ, et al. TFG-β Nuclear Staining as a Potential Relapse Risk Factor in Early-Stage Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer. Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Nov 9;23(22):13780.http://hdl.handle.net/10668/21214Nowadays, the impact of the tumor-immune microenvironment (TME) in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) prognosis and treatment response remains unclear. Thus, we evaluated the expression of PD-L1, tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), and transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) in NSCLC to identify differences in TME, detect possible new prognostic factors, and assess their relationship. We retrospectively analyzed 55 samples from patients who underwent NSCLC surgery and had over a 5-year follow-up. PD-L1 expression was determined by immunohistochemistry following standard techniques. The presence of TILs was evaluated at low magnification and classified into two categories, “intense” and “non-intense”. Cytoplasmic TGF-β staining visualization was divided into four categories, and unequivocal nuclear staining in >1% of viable tumor cells was defined as “present” or “absent”. Our aim was to identify differences in disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). Tumor stage was the only objective prognostic factor for OS. PD-L1 expression and the presence of TILs had no prognostic impact, neither their combination. There seems to be a lower expression of PD-L1 and a higher expression of TILs in early stages of the disease. Our TGF-β nuclear staining analysis was promising, since it was associated with worse DFS, revealing this protein as a possible prognostic biomarker of recurrence for resectable NSCLC.enAttribution 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/PD-L1TGF-βTILscheckpoint inhibitionearly-stage lung cancerprognostic factorsHumansB7-H1 AntigenCarcinoma, Non-Small-Cell LungLung NeoplasmsRecurrenceRetrospective StudiesRisk FactorsSmall Cell Lung CarcinomaStaining and LabelingTransforming Growth Factor betaTumor Microenvironmentresearch article36430262open accessAntígeno B7-H1Carcinoma pulmonar de células pequeñasCarcinoma de pulmón de células no pequeñasCarcinoma de pulmón de células no pequeñasColoración y etiquetadoEstudios retrospectivosFactor de crecimiento transformador betaFactores de riesgoHumanosMicroambiente tumoralNeoplasias pulmonaresRecurrencia10.3390/ijms2322137801422-0067PMC9694009https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/23/22/13780/pdf?version=1667987405https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9694009/pdf