In summary, our meta-analysis confirmed that high densities of TILs, CD3+ TILs, CD4+ TILs, CD8+ TILs and CD20+ TILs are favourable prognostic biomarkers for patients with NSCLC, and Foxp3+ TILs are a poor prognostic biomarker. Here, CD4 is linked to non-small cell lung carcinoma.