Figure 2.

ILT4 levels in CRC cells were negatively correlated with T cell infiltration in the TME. (A and B) ILT4 expression was negatively correlated with the density of CD3⁺ T cells in the TME by IHC analysis. (A) Representative images of ILT4 expression and CD3⁺ T cell infiltration. Each paraffin-embedded tissue was sequentially sectioned for ILT4 or CD3 staining. (B) Statistical analysis of 145 patients. Scale bar: 50μm. (C). Patients with high CD3⁺ T cell infiltration had higher frequencies of high-grade cell differentiation than the CD3-low patients. A frequency of ≥median was considered CD3 high, otherwise CD3 low. (D) Patients with a high frequency of CD3⁺ T cell infiltration displayed favorable OS with respect to the CD3-low patients. (E) High ILT4 level was associated with decreased CD3⁺ T density in the tumor center and invasion margin of CRC tissues. The cutoff value for high and low ILT4 expression was the same as in Figure 1C. *p<0.05; **p<0.01; ***p<0.001.

Abbreviations: HR, hazard ratio; OS, overall survival.