CXCL9 and autoimmune disease: To conclude, markers of CXCR3 pathway, typically involved in autoimmune diseases, were expressed both in SPTL and in control (LEP and EN) cases, but in SPTL, the main source of CXCL9 and CXCR3-positive cells was the malignant, CD8+ lymphocyte infiltrate (Table 3).