Fig. 2

Distribution of TILs and TIL subtypes through the whole tumor. These radar plots show the number of breast carcinomas being infiltrated by the different TIL infiltration categories. TIL-poor tumors were defined as BCs with low level infiltration or complete lack of TILs both at the ITF and in the TC. TIL-rich tumors had a moderate or high level of immune cell infiltration at both intratumoral areas. a High levels of total TILs were mainly observed at the ITF, whereas the TC contained generally less immune cells. The ITF was most frequently interspearsed with CD3+ T lymphocytes, CD20+ B cells and CD8+ T cells. CD68+ macrophages and and CD4+ T cells cells were found in lower amounts at the ITF. b In the TC, CD3+ T cells were found to be the prevalent subtype, whereas low amounts of CD20+, CD68+, CD4+ and CD8+ cells were present, or there was no immune infiltration in the TC at all. The TIL infiltration is depicted by the number of tumors showing the certain infiltration densities