Strong CD8+ lymphocyte infiltration in combination with expression of HLA class I is associated with better tumor control in breast cancer patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy

Purpose Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) are associated with pathological complete response (pCR) and survival after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) in patients with early breast cancer. We investigated the prognostic and predictive role of TILs, macrophages, and HLA class 1 expression after NAC with or without the potentially immune modulating compound zoledronic acid (ZA).