Immune Checkpoint Status and Exhaustion-Related Phenotypes of CD8⁺ T Cells from the Tumor-Draining Regional Lymph Nodes in Breast Cancer

Multicolor immunophenotyping was used to determine the expression of PD-1, TIM-3, LAG3, CTLA-4, CCR7, CD45RO, CD127, CD25, CXCR5, and ICOS molecules on CD3+CD4−CD56−CD8+ cytotoxic T cells freshly obtained from the lymph nodes and the peripheral blood samples of the breast cancer patients.