In the present study, higher stromal CD8 + TIL density after cCRT was associated with a higher pathologic response (therapeutic effect 2), which is reasonably explained by experimental results showing that CTLs play a crucial role in anti-tumour effects of radiation.23,24 It has been generally considered that the main mechanism of killing tumour cells by ionising radiation is the direct DNA damage. Here, CD8A is linked to neoplasm.