{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,22]],"date-time":"2026-10-22T06:42:03Z","timestamp":1792651323361,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":44,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,9,27]],"date-time":"2022-09-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1664236800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004622","name":"KWF Kankerbestrijding","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["KWF UL 2013-6311"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["KWF UL 2013-6311"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004622","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Immunol."],"abstract":"<jats:p>Neoadjuvant therapy is the cornerstone of modern rectal cancer treatment. Insights into the biology of tumor responses are essential for the successful implementation of organ-preserving strategies, as different treatments may lead to specific tumor responses. In this study, we aim to explore treatment-specific responses of the tumor microenvironment. Patients with locally advanced adenocarcinoma of the rectum who had received neo-adjuvant chemotherapy (CT), neo-adjuvant radiochemotherapy (RCT), neo-adjuvant radiotherapy with a long-interval (LRT) or short-interval (SRT) or no neoadjuvant therapy (NT) as control were included. Multiplex-immunofluorescence was performed to determine the presence of cytotoxic T-cells (T-cyt; CD3+CD8+), regulatory T-cells (T-reg; CD3+FOXP3+), T-helper cells (T-helper; CD3+CD8-FOXP3-), B cells (CD20+), dendritic cells (CD11c+) and tumor cells (panCK+). A total of 80 rectal cancer patients were included. Treatment groups were matched for gender, tumor location, response to therapy, and TNM stage. The pattern of response (shrinkage <jats:italic>vs.<\/jats:italic> fragmentation) was, however, different between treatment groups. Our analyses reveal that RCT-treated patients exhibited lower stromal T-helper, T-reg, and T-cyt cells compared to other treatment regimens. In conclusion, we demonstrated treatment-specific differences in the immune microenvironment landscape of rectal cancer patients. Understanding the underlying mechanisms of this landscape after a specific therapy will benefit future treatment decisions.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fimmu.2022.1011498","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,9,27]],"date-time":"2022-09-27T08:53:53Z","timestamp":1664268833000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":16,"title":["The immune microenvironment landscape shows treatment-specific differences in rectal cancer patients"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Cristina","family":"Graham Mart\u00ednez","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yari","family":"Barella","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sonay","family":"Kus 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