{"id":58620,"date":"2026-07-16T09:23:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T07:23:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dzl.de\/?p=58620"},"modified":"2026-07-16T15:52:36","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T13:52:36","slug":"overlooked-immune-cells-predict-long-term-survival-in-lung-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dzl.de\/en\/news\/overlooked-immune-cells-predict-long-term-survival-in-lung-cancer\/","title":{"rendered":"Overlooked Immune Cells Predict Long-Term Survival in Lung Cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Researchers at the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), based at the Airway Research Center North (ARCN), have identified a previously overlooked cellular pattern in the tumor microenvironment that provides important insights into the long-term survival prospects of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The findings have been published in the European Journal of Cancer<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Until now, research has primarily focused on immune cells that directly infiltrate tumors. However, the team led by DZL researcher PD Dr. Sebastian Marwitz at the Research Center Borstel, Leibniz Lung Center, has shown that immune cells unable to enter the tumor and instead remaining in the surrounding connective tissue (stroma) also provide valuable information about disease progression.<\/p>\n

For the study, the researchers analyzed tissue samples from 674 patients with NSCLC from Germany and Sweden. Using multiplex immunofluorescence, they identified, classified, and mapped the spatial distribution of more than six million immune cells within the tissue.<\/p>\n

Their analyses revealed five distinct immune cell composition patterns and three different spatial organization patterns within the stroma. The results demonstrate that not only the abundance of specific immune cell types but also their spatial organization plays a crucial role. The architecture of immune cells remaining in the stroma proved to be an independent predictor of long-term survival\u2014a relationship that has not previously been described.<\/p>\n

Patients with a high density of B cells in the stroma and a close spatial association between helper T cells and regulatory T cells showed particularly favorable long-term survival. Importantly, this prognostic signature could be reduced to just three established immune markers, potentially paving the way for a comparatively simple prognostic test. \"These findings highlight that diseases behave in a much more complex way than previously assumed. It is not only the abundance of individual cell types that matters, but also how they are spatially organized and interact with neighboring cells. This research approach is a central component of our work at the Research Center Borstel and the German Center for Lung Research,\" said PD Dr. Sebastian Marwitz.<\/p>\n

Future studies will investigate whether the identified immune signature also predicts outcomes in patients with advanced or metastatic lung cancer and in those receiving immunotherapy.<\/p>\n

The study was conducted within the framework of the Airway Research Center North (ARCN) of the DZL in collaboration with Uppsala University and LungenClinic Grosshansdorf. \"The successful realization of this project was only possible thanks to the close collaboration and combined expertise of our international consortium. Scientific advances like these are the result of strong collaborative research,\" emphasized DZL researcher Prof. Dr. Torsten Goldmann, Head of Histology at the Research Center Borstel, Leibniz Lung Center.<\/p>\n

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Source:<\/strong> Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Cells within the excluded stroma that have been neglected reveal which patients have a good prognosis - Forschungszentrum Borstel, Leibniz Lungenzentrum<\/a><\/p>\n

Original publication:\u00a0<\/strong>Marwitz S, Brunnstr\u00f6m H, Gulyas M, et al. Left behind but not left alone: Excluded cell populations in the non-small cell lung cancer stroma predict superior long-term overall survival. European Journal of Cancer 2026 Jun 9:244:116868. DOI:\u00a010.1016\/j.ejca.2026.116868<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Researchers at the German Center for Lung Research (DZL) have identified a cellular pattern in the tumor microenvironment of non-small cell lung cancer that provides important insights into patients' long-term prognosis. The findings could help improve prognostic assessment in the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":58619,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[246],"class_list":["post-58620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-lung-cancer-lc"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dzl.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dzl.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dzl.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dzl.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dzl.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58620"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dzl.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58620\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58621,"href":"https:\/\/dzl.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58620\/revisions\/58621"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dzl.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dzl.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dzl.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dzl.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}