Figure 6: Desmoplastic elements associate with T-cell infiltration.

(a) Schematic representing the parameters analysed in b,c. (b,c) The mean intensity of αSMA (b) and Collagen-I (c) (grey values) for pixels within 20 μm of cancer cells for each patient separated by low or high cytotoxic T-cell infiltration as determined by the L-function AUC; significance determined by an unpaired t-test. (d) Schematic representing the parameters analysed in e–n. (e–n) The mean intensity of αSMA (e,g,i,k,m) and Collagen-I (f,h,j,l,n) (grey values) for pixels within 20 μm of cancer cells for each patient separated by cancer cells with or without adjacent cytotoxic T cells (e,f), all T cells (g,h), CD4⁺ Teffs (i,j), Tregs (k,l) and other T cells (m,n); significance determined by an unpaired t-test. (o,p) Correlation analysis between area of Collagen-I deposition and the percentage of cytotoxic T cells (o) and area of Collagen-I deposition and the percentage of CD4⁺ Teffs (p) per patient. Pearson correlation coefficient (r) and significance levels (P value) are presented for each correlation. Data presented as the mean±s.e.m. *P<0.05, ****P<0.0001, NS, not significant.