Fig. 1: Decreased tumour α_V expression correlates with improved anti-PD-(L)1-treated NSCLC patient survival.

a Representative IHC images of tumour samples from patients with low and high α_V expression in tumour cells. Objective: 20×. b Kaplan−Meier curve of OS for stage I treatment-naïve lung cancer patients according to the α_V expression by IHC analysis of FFPE tumours. c Kaplan−Meier curve of PFS of PD-1 blockade-treated patients with tumours harbouring low and high expression of α_V integrin. d Percentages of anti-PD-(L)1-treated patients displaying α_V^high tumours among long-responders (LR: PFS > 6 months and OS > 12 months) or fast progressors (FP: defined by “early death” occurring within 12 weeks of treatment initiation). e Representative digital mark-up image of fluorescent IHC of CD8 (green), cytokeratin (turquoise), and dapi (blue) staining in α_V^low and α_V^high tumour sections. d = CD8⁺ cell density. Left, the density of CD8⁺ TIL in α_V^low and α_V^high tumours. The numbers of tumours in each group are indicated (*p = 0.046). Scale bar, 2 cm. f Representative digital mark-up image of CD8⁺CD103^neg (green), CD8⁺CD103⁺ (orange), CD8^-CD103⁺ (red), cytokeratin (turquoise) and dapi (blue) staining in α_V^low and α_V^high tumour sections. d = CD8⁺CD103⁺ cell density. Left, the density of CD8⁺CD103⁺ (*p = 0.016) and CD8⁺CD103^neg (p = 0.120) cells in tumour regions of α_V^low and α_V^high tumours. Scale bar, 2 cm. Each symbol represents an individual cell type from tumour samples; horizontal lines correspond to mean ± standard error of the mean (SEM) (e, f). Data were calculated with the log-rank test (b, c) and Welch’s two-sided t-test (e, f). Source data are provided as a Source Data file.