Crucial Contributions by T Lymphocytes (Effector, Regulatory, and Checkpoint Inhibitor) and Cytokines (TH1, TH2, and TH17) to a Pathological Complete Response Induced by Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Women with Breast Cancer

Table 3

Tumour-infiltrating CD8⁺ : FOXP3⁺ T cell ratio in LLABCs⁽¹⁾ and subsequent pathological response to NAC⁽²⁾.

T cell subsets; ()	Groups	Pre-NAC intratumoural; Median (range)^(3)	value^(4); (GPR versus PRR, PCR versus non-PCR)	Pre-NAC stromal; Median (range)^(3)	value^(4); (GPR versus PRR, PCR versus non-PCR)
CD8^+ : FOXP3^+ T cell ratio	Good pathological response (GPR, )^(5)	3.26 (0.18–45.00)	0.027	4.67 (0.53–23.29)	0.027
	Poor pathological response (PPR, )^(6)	1.37 (0.67–6.04)		1.81 (0.10–6.78)
	Pathological complete response (PCR, )^(7)	7.40 (0.27–45.00)	0.002	5.37 (1.08–23.29)	0.001
	Nonpathological complete response (non-PCR, )	1.48 (0.18–6.04)		1.67 (0.10–6.78)

LLABCs: large and locally advanced breast cancers; ⁽²⁾NAC: neoadjuvant chemotherapy; ⁽³⁾CD8⁺ T cell/FOXP3⁺ Treg ratio; ⁽⁴⁾Mann–Whitney test; ⁽⁵⁾GPR (good pathological response, grades 5 and 4): no residual invasive disease, >90% loss of invasive disease, respectively; ⁽⁶⁾PPR (poor pathological response, grades 3, 2, and 1): 30–90% loss of invasive disease, <30% loss of invasive disease, and no loss of tumour cells, respectively; ⁽⁷⁾PCR (pathological complete response, grade 5); statistically significant.