# Tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs)

Source: https://onco.cc/terms/tils/  
OnCo record `tils` (Term). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Immune cells that have got inside the tumour. More of them means better outcomes in triple-negative breast cancer.

## Summary

Tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) are immune cells that have got inside the tumour, and in Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) more of them means better outcomes. Stromal TILs are scored on ordinary H&E slides by the International TILs Working Group method, and their strong prognostic signal in stage I disease has driven de-escalation trials, captured in the idea on TIL-based omission of chemotherapy in stage I TNBC. TILs are also the raw material for TIL therapy, so the term links to that technology and to Digital pathology & AI. It is referenced by Histopathology & immunohistochemistry, Spatial-omics-guided treatment selection, the TNBC roadmap, Carsten Denkert and Sherene Loi, and by the bottlenecks on cold tumours and on predicting immunotherapy response.

## Fields

- Kind: Term
- Last checked: 2026-09-04
- Also known as: tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes; tumour-infiltrating lymphocyte

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tumor-infiltrating_lymphocytes
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tumor-infiltrating_lymphocytes

## Connected records

- cancers: [Carcinoma with medullary pattern (medullary breast cancer)](https://onco.cc/cancers/medullary-pattern-breast-carcinoma/), [Early triple-negative breast cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/tnbc-early/), [Gallbladder cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/gallbladder/), [Immunomodulatory triple-negative breast cancer (IM)](https://onco.cc/cancers/tnbc-immunomodulatory/), [Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC)](https://onco.cc/cancers/tnbc/)
- technologies: [Digital pathology & AI](https://onco.cc/technologies/digital-pathology-ai/), [Histopathology & immunohistochemistry](https://onco.cc/technologies/histopathology-ihc/), [Spatial-omics-guided treatment selection](https://onco.cc/technologies/spatial-omics-guided-therapy/), [TIL therapy](https://onco.cc/technologies/til-therapy/)
- terms: [Immune exclusion](https://onco.cc/terms/immune-exclusion/), [Immune surveillance and cancer immunoediting](https://onco.cc/terms/immune-surveillance-immunoediting/), [Interferon-gamma gene signature (T-cell-inflamed signature)](https://onco.cc/terms/interferon-gamma-signature/), [PD-L1 combined positive score 10 in triple-negative breast cancer](https://onco.cc/terms/pd-l1-cps-10-tnbc/), [T cell](https://onco.cc/terms/t-cell/)
- key papers: [Binnewies 2018: understanding the tumour immune microenvironment for effective therapy](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-binnewies-tumor-immune-microenvironment-natmed-2018/), [C-144-01: lifileucel, tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes grown from a patient's own tumour, in melanoma after checkpoint inhibitors have failed](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-c-144-01-lifileucel-melanoma-jco-2021/), [Clinical relevance of PD-L1 expression in gallbladder cancer: a potential target for therapy](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-neyaz-pdl1-gallbladder-histopathology-2018/), [Comparison of SP142 and 22C3 PD-L1 assays in a population-based cohort of triple-negative breast cancer patients in the context of their clinically established scoring algorithms](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-sigurjonsdottir-sp142-22c3-tnbc-bcr-2023/), [Galon 2006: the type, density and location of immune cells in colorectal tumours predict outcome](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-galon-immune-contexture-colorectal-science-2006/), [Immune microenvironment in gallbladder adenocarcinomas](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-patil-gallbladder-immune-microenvironment-aimm-2021/), [Integrative molecular characterisation of gallbladder cancer reveals micro-environment-associated subtypes](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-nepal-gallbladder-microenvironment-subtypes-j-hepatol-2021/), [Li 2017: TIMER, a web server for estimating immune cells in tumour genomic data](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-li-timer-tumour-infiltrating-immune-cells-cancerres-2017/), [Li 2020: TIMER2.0 for analysis of tumour-infiltrating immune cells](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-li-timer2-nar-2020/), [Prognostic value of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in patients with early-stage triple-negative breast cancers (TNBC) who did not receive adjuvant chemotherapy](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-park-tils-untreated-early-tnbc-ann-oncol-2019/), [Programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) is an independent negative prognosticator in Western-world gallbladder cancer](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-albrecht-pdl1-western-gallbladder-cancers-2021/), [Refinement of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Molecular Subtypes: Implications for Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy Selection](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-lehmann-tnbctype-4-refinement-plos-one-2016/), [Rohaas 2022: the first randomised trial of TIL therapy, against ipilimumab, in advanced melanoma](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-rohaas-til-vs-ipilimumab-nejm-2022/), [Spatially distinct tumor immune microenvironments stratify triple-negative breast cancers](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-gruosso-tnbc-spatial-immune-microenvironments-jci-2019/), [Thorsson 2018: the immune landscape of cancer across 10,000 tumours](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-thorsson-immune-landscape-of-cancer-immunity-2018/), [Tumeh 2014: PD-1 blockade works by releasing T cells already present at the tumour edge](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-tumeh-pd1-adaptive-immune-resistance-nature-2014/), [Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and prognosis: a pooled individual patient analysis of early-stage triple-negative breast cancers](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-loi-tils-pooled-early-tnbc-jco-2019/), [Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-leon-ferre-tils-tnbc-no-chemotherapy-jama-2024/), [Tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes and prognosis in different subtypes of breast cancer: a pooled analysis of 3771 patients treated with neoadjuvant therapy](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-denkert-tils-neoadjuvant-pooled-lancet-oncol-2018/), [Unraveling triple-negative breast cancer tumor microenvironment heterogeneity: towards an optimized treatment approach](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-bareche-tnbc-microenvironment-jnci-2020/)
- roadmaps: [TNBC roadmap: from 'nothing to target' to ADC + immunotherapy first line](https://onco.cc/roadmaps/tnbc-history/), [Triple-negative breast cancer roadmap: from a remainder defined by three negative tests to immunotherapy, antibody-drug conjugates and the residual disease problem](https://onco.cc/roadmaps/tnbc-roadmap/)
- ideas: [Give exceptional responders less: pembrolizumab omission after complete response, anthracycline-free regimens and chemotherapy omission in lymphocyte-rich stage I disease](https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-tnbc-de-escalation-for-exceptional-responders/), [Grow immune command posts inside tumours](https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-bio2-tertiary-lymphoid-induction/), [Grow tumour organoids together with the patient's own immune cells](https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-bio1-organoid-immune-coculture/), [Map which tumour clones sit next to which immune cells before choosing therapy](https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-bio1-spatial-clone-immune-map/), [Select patients for cell therapy by whether their tumour holds reactive T cells](https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-bio2-til-reactivity-selection/), [Standards for spatial and multiplex tissue biomarkers before they reach the clinic](https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-tr2-spatial-biomarker-standards/), [TIL-based omission of chemotherapy in stage I TNBC](https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-til-guided-deescalation/), [Turn the map of immune cells inside a tumour into a standardised test](https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-bio2-spatial-signature-cdx/)
- trials: [A-BRAVE](https://onco.cc/trials/a-brave/), [GeparDouze / NSABP B-59](https://onco.cc/trials/gepardouze/), [NeoPACT](https://onco.cc/trials/neopact/), [PHOENIX DDR/Anti-PD-L1](https://onco.cc/trials/phoenix/), [SCAN-B (Sweden Cancerome Analysis Network - Breast)](https://onco.cc/trials/scan-b/)
- people: [Carsten Denkert](https://onco.cc/people/carsten-denkert/), [Sherene Loi](https://onco.cc/people/loi-sherene/)
- bottlenecks: [Cold tumours and the immunosuppressive microenvironment](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-tme-immunosuppression/), [No one can predict who responds to immunotherapy](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-immunotherapy-response/)
- pathways: [Cold tumours: immune deserts and exclusion](https://onco.cc/pathways/immune-desert-exclusion/), [T-cell exhaustion](https://onco.cc/pathways/t-cell-exhaustion/), [The cancer-immunity cycle](https://onco.cc/pathways/cancer-immunity-cycle/), [Tumour microenvironment (TME)](https://onco.cc/pathways/tumor-microenvironment/)
- biomarkers: [PD-L1 IC score (immune-cell score, SP142)](https://onco.cc/biomarkers/pd-l1-ic-score/)

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