Reviewer's report
Title:Stromal Regulatory T-Cells are associated with a Favorable Prognosis in
Gastric Cancer of the Cardia
Version: 1Date:11 June 2009
Reviewer: Awen Gallimore
Reviewer's report:
It is widely reported in the literature that Tregs promote cancer progression by
inhibiting effective anti-tumour immune responses. This conclusion stems from
work in animal models and reports of high Treg frequencies in patients with
cancer and the demonstration that these cells can inhibit anti-tumour immune
responses. However, there are also reports, albeit fewer in number, that Tregs
can limit cancer progression by dampening down inflammatory processes that
facilitate tumour progression. With this dichotomy in mind, studies such as this by
Haas et al, which report on Treg ratios within TILs are important and informative.
The methods utilised for enumeration of cells in tumour and lymph node in the
study are straightforward and well described. My experience of performing the
type of statistical analyses presented in the paper is limited thus it is difficult for
me to comment on the validity of the processed data. The conclusions are
interesting and important and indicate using tumour specimens obtained from
patients with gastric cancer that there is a need for caution in considering the role
of Tregs in cancer progression.
The data presented in Figure 3 appears to indicate that the ratio of Tregs to non
Treg T cells is higher in both tumour stroma and affected lymph nodes compared
to control lymph nodes. Are these differences significant and how might this data
impact on the authors’ interpretation of the overall data set?
Could the authors clarify what was meant by overall survival as they state that
this was defined as period from surgery to death or end of follow-up. Was the
follow-up period the same for all patients? If not, how might differences in the
length of the follow-up period affect calculated survival times?
Level of interest: An article of importance in its field
Quality of written English: Acceptable
Statistical review: Yes, but I do not feel adequately qualified to assess the
statistics.
Declaration of competing interests:
I declare that I have no competing interests
Reviewer's report
Title:Stromal Regulatory T-Cells are associated with a Favorable Prognosis in
Gastric Cancer of the Cardia
Version: 1Date:11 June 2009
Reviewer: Awen Gallimore
Reviewer's report:
It is widely reported in the literature that Tregs promote cancer progression by
inhibiting effective anti-tumour immune responses. This conclusion stems from
work in animal models and reports of high Treg frequencies in patients with
cancer and the demonstration that these cells can inhibit anti-tumour immune
responses. However, there are also reports, albeit fewer in number, that Tregs
can limit cancer progression by dampening down inflammatory processes that
facilitate tumour progression. With this dichotomy in mind, studies such as this by
Haas et al, which report on Treg ratios within TILs are important and informative.
The methods utilised for enumeration of cells in tumour and lymph node in the
study are straightforward and well described. My experience of performing the
type of statistical analyses presented in the paper is limited thus it is difficult for
me to comment on the validity of the processed data. The conclusions are
interesting and important and indicate using tumour specimens obtained from
patients with gastric cancer that there is a need for caution in considering the role
of Tregs in cancer progression.
The data presented in Figure 3 appears to indicate that the ratio of Tregs to non
Treg T cells is higher in both tumour stroma and affected lymph nodes compared
to control lymph nodes. Are these differences significant and how might this data
impact on the authors’ interpretation of the overall data set?
Could the authors clarify what was meant by overall survival as they state that
this was defined as period from surgery to death or end of follow-up. Was the
follow-up period the same for all patients? If not, how might differences in the
length of the follow-up period affect calculated survival times?
Level of interest: An article of importance in its field
Quality of written English: Acceptable
Statistical review: Yes, but I do not feel adequately qualified to assess the
statistics.
Declaration of competing interests:
I declare that I have no competing interests
Please review this paper.
user
Reviewer's report
Title:Stromal Regulatory T-Cells are associated with a Favorable Prognosis in
Gastric Cancer of the Cardia
Version: 1Date:11 June 2009
Reviewer: Awen Gallimore
Reviewer's report:
It is widely reported in the literature that Tregs promote cancer progression by
inhibiting effective anti-tumour immune responses. This conclusion stems from
work in animal models and reports of high Treg frequencies in patients with
cancer and the demonstration that these cells can inhibit anti-tumour immune
responses. However, there are also reports, albeit fewer in number, that Tregs
can limit cancer progression by dampening down inflammatory processes that
facilitate tumour progression. With this dichotomy in mind, studies such as this by
Haas et al, which report on Treg ratios within TILs are important and informative.
The methods utilised for enumeration of cells in tumour and lymph node in the
study are straightforward and well described. My experience of performing the
type of statistical analyses presented in the paper is limited thus it is difficult for
me to comment on the validity of the processed data. The conclusions are
interesting and important and indicate using tumour specimens obtained from
patients with gastric cancer that there is a need for caution in considering the role
of Tregs in cancer progression.
The data presented in Figure 3 appears to indicate that the ratio of Tregs to non
Treg T cells is higher in both tumour stroma and affected lymph nodes compared
to control lymph nodes. Are these differences significant and how might this data
impact on the authors’ interpretation of the overall data set?
Could the authors clarify what was meant by overall survival as they state that
this was defined as period from surgery to death or end of follow-up. Was the
follow-up period the same for all patients? If not, how might differences in the
length of the follow-up period affect calculated survival times?
Level of interest: An article of importance in its field
Quality of written English: Acceptable
Statistical review: Yes, but I do not feel adequately qualified to assess the
statistics.
Declaration of competing interests:
I declare that I have no competing interests
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