Manual, digital, and AI tumour-infiltrating lymphocyte scoring: a secondary analysis of the APHINITY randomised trial.
Luis E Lara González, Fabiola Giudici, Roberto Salgado et al.
✦ AI-curated · Sources linked
In 30 seconds
This secondary analysis of the phase 3 APHINITY trial evaluated manual, digital, and AI-based scoring of stromal tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (sTILs) in 4262 patients with early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer. The study found that AI-based scoring reclassified 11.6% of node-positive tumours, leading to improved invasive disease-free survival with pertuzumab treatment, particularly in those with high immune infiltration (mean absolute improvement 12.1 percentage points).
Key findings
- AI-based scoring reclassified 11.6% of node-positive tumours from immune-low to immune-high.
- Higher sTIL levels were associated with improved invasive disease-free survival (HRs 0.41-0.93).
- Pertuzumab improved invasive disease-free survival at higher sTIL levels (HRs 0.36-0.48).
- The largest 6-year absolute improvement with pertuzumab was 12.1 percentage points in patients with sTIL ≥70.0%.
Why it matters
Understanding the role of sTILs in treatment response can help clinicians better stratify patients for HER2-targeted therapies, potentially improving outcomes in early-stage breast cancer.