{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,5]],"date-time":"2026-05-05T02:55:52Z","timestamp":1777949752509,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,4]],"date-time":"2026-05-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1777852800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Oncol."],"abstract":"\n Background<\/jats:title>\n Adjuvant immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) have improved survival in stage III cutaneous melanoma, yet many patients do not benefit. The tumor microenvironment is pivotal for durable responses; defining cellular composition can pinpoint immune components promoting anti-tumor activity and identify biomarkers associated with improved outcomes.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Method<\/jats:title>\n Regional lymph nodes (RLNs) were obtained at surgery from 29 patients with stage III melanoma. Eligible patients received adjuvant anti-PD-1 (\u03b1PD-1; pembrolizumab or nivolumab). Mass cytometry (CyTOF) was used to determine cellular composition of pre-treatment surgical specimens. NanoString bulk gene expression data from 125 patients receiving surgery without adjuvant therapy were used to evaluate trends observed in the CyTOF dataset.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Results<\/jats:title>\n \n Higher proportions of CD103\n +<\/jats:sup>\n PD-1\n +<\/jats:sup>\n CD8\n +<\/jats:sup>\n (T\n RM<\/jats:sub>\n ) T cells and plasmablast-like CD38\n hi<\/jats:sup>\n CD19\n dim<\/jats:sup>\n cells were associated with improved prognosis in the CyTOF cohort. In the untreated cohort, a\n \u201cB cell excluded\u201d<\/jats:italic>\n subgroup (&lt; 2.5% tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte pathology score) had worse outcome, showing reduced B cell score and lower expression of activation genes including\n CD38<\/jats:italic>\n , without change in CD8\n +<\/jats:sup>\n T cell score.\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n \n Baseline infiltration of CD8\n +<\/jats:sup>\n T\n RM<\/jats:sub>\n and plasmablast-like CD38\n hi<\/jats:sup>\n CD19\n dim<\/jats:sup>\n cells in RLN is strongly associated with prolonged distant metastasis-free survival in patients receiving \u03b1PD-1, supporting their potential as prognostic biomarkers in stage III melanoma.\n <\/jats:p>\n 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