Fig. 1 ∣. Immune evasion by human cancer cells within metastatic LNs.

a, Representative IF staining of metastatic LNs from patients with head and neck, colon and breast cancer. Scale bar, 1.2 mm. The number of images taken is reflected in the n values for b–d. The dashed lines indicate the margin of the LN lesion. b–d, Lymphocyte quantification within the non-tumour area (NT) and tumour area (T) of metastatic LNs from patients with head and neck cancer (b), colon cancer (c) and breast cancer (d). n = 9 patients with head and neck cancer (n = 8 (non-tumour B-cell area), n = 9 (non-tumour T-cell area) and n = 9 (tumour B- and T-cell area)). T- and B-cell area fraction from n = 13 patients with colon cancer was measured (n = 18 (non-tumour B-cell area), n = 19 (non-tumour T-cell area) and n = 21 (tumour B- and T-cell area)). T- and B-cell area fraction from n = 7 patients with breast cancer was measured (n = 12 (non-tumour B- and T-cell area) and n = 15 (tumour B- and T-cell area)). e, Representative IF staining of CD68⁺ macrophages (red) in a non-metastatic TDLN and a metastatic LN from a patient with head and neck cancer. Cancer cells are stained green (cytokeratin⁺), and DAPI (blue) stains all nucleated cells. n = 5 images taken from n = 5 non-metastatic LNs, n = 5 images from n = 5 metastatic LNs. Scale bar, 500 μm. f, Quantification of CD68+ macrophages within LN tumour and non-tumour areas from patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). n = 5 LNs from n = 5 different patients; two of the LNs did not have a non-tumour area. Data are mean ± s.e.m. For b–d and f, significance was tested using two-tailed paired Student’s t-tests (b–d) and an unpaired Student’s t-test (f).