BACKGROUND: We aimed to assess the prognostic value of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in patients with bladder cancer (BC) after radical cystectomy (RC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We searched Pubmed, Web of Science and Scopus in April 2022 to identify studies assessing the prognostic value of TILs, including a subset of lymphocytes (eg, CD3, CD8, FOXP3), after RC. The endpoints were overall survival and recurrent free survival. Subgroup analyses were performed based on the evaluation method for TILs (ie, CD3, CD8, FOXP3, HE staining). RESULTS: Overall, 9 studies comprising 1413 patients were included in this meta-analysis. The meta-analysis revealed that elevated expressions of TILs were significantly associated with favorable OS (pooled hazard ratio [HR]: 0.65, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.51-0.83) and RFS (pooled HR: 0.48, 95% CI: 0.35-0.64). In subgroup analyses, high CD8+ TILs were also associated with favorable OS (HR: 0.51, 95% CI: 0.33-0.80) and RFS (pooled HR: 0.53, 95% CI: 0.36-0.76). Among 3 studies comprising 146 patients, high intratumoral TILs were significantly associated with favorable OS (pooled HR: 0.34, 95% CI: 0.19-0.60). CONCLUSION: TILs are useful prognostic markers in patients treated with RC for BC. Although the prognostic value of TILs is varied, depending on the subset and infiltration site, CD8+ TILs and intratumoral TILs are associated with oncologic outcomes. Further studies are warranted to explicate the predictive value of TILs on the response to perioperative systemic therapy to help clinical decision-making in patients with BC.

Department of Urology Comprehensive Cancer Center Medical University of Vienna Vienna Austria

Department of Urology Comprehensive Cancer Center Medical University of Vienna Vienna Austria; Department of Urology King Fahad Specialist Hospital Dammam Saudi Arabia

Department of Urology Comprehensive Cancer Center Medical University of Vienna Vienna Austria; Department of Urology Medical University of Silesia Zabrze Poland

Department of Urology Comprehensive Cancer Center Medical University of Vienna Vienna Austria; Department of Urology Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences Kita ku Okayama Japan

Department of Urology Comprehensive Cancer Center Medical University of Vienna Vienna Austria; Department of Urology Paracelsus Medical University Salzburg University Hospital Salzburg Salzburg Austria

Department of Urology Comprehensive Cancer Center Medical University of Vienna Vienna Austria; Department of Urology The Jikei University School of Medicine Minato ku Tokyo Japan

Department of Urology Comprehensive Cancer Center Medical University of Vienna Vienna Austria; Department of Urology University Medical Centre Hamburg Eppendorf Hamburg Germany

Department of Urology Comprehensive Cancer Center Medical University of Vienna Vienna Austria; Hourani Center for Applied Scientific Research Al Ahliyya Amman University Amman Jordan; Department of Urology University of Texas Southwestern Dallas Texas USA; Department of Urology 2nd Faculty of Medicine Charles University Prag Czech Republic; Karl Landsteiner Institute of Urology and Andrology Vienna Austria; Research Center for Evidence Medicine Urology Department Tabriz University of Medical Sciences Tabriz Iran

Department of Urology Comprehensive Cancer Center Medical University of Vienna Vienna Austria; Men's Health and Reproductive Health Research Center Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences Daneshjoo Blvd Tehran Iran

Department of Urology Comprehensive Cancer Center Medical University of Vienna Vienna Austria; Research Center for Evidence Based Medicine Tabriz University of Medical Sciences Tabriz Iran

Department of Urology La Croix Du Sud Hospital Quint Fonsegrives France

Department of Urology Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences Kita ku Okayama Japan

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