Fig. 4: Characterisation of the immune profiles of dedifferentiated liposarcoma (DDLPS) and undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma (UPS).

a Representative images of high and low CD3+ tumour infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) staining from an exemplar in DDLPS (green) and UPS (purple) cases in the cohort. Samples were stratified as high and low based on median TIL counts (107 cells/mm²). b Kaplan–Meier plot of overall survival (OS) in CD3+ TIL-high and -low patients (n = 82). Hazard ratio (HR), 95% confidence intervals (CI) and p-value determined by univariable Cox regression. c Boxplots comparing expression of 21 immune-related genes in CD3+ TIL-high and -low cases. Boxplots indicate 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile, with whiskers extending from 25th percentile−(1.5*IQR) to 75th percentile+(1.5*IQR), and outliers plotted as points. p values determined by Kruskal–Wallis tests and adjusted to false discovery rate (FDR). d Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) results showing the top 15 gene sets enriched in CD3+ TIL-high and and-low cases based on normalised enrichment score (NES) with gene sets related to complement activity (blue) and coagulation processes (orange) highlighted. e To inspect the proteins contributing to the enrichment of complement and coagulation cascades in these tumours, protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks were constructed based on the Kyoto Encyclopaedia of Genes and Genomics (KEGG) and WikiPathways databases. Node colour indicates Log₂(Fold Change CD3+ TIL low: CD3+ TIL high) protein expression. Grey indicates nodes that are not in the proteomic data. This analysis highlighted the serpin family of serine proteases to be strongly upregulated in low CD3+ TIL patients (SERPINA1/A5/C1/D1/F2/G1). Several complement proteins were also upregulated in low CD3+ TIL patients, including those of the membrane attack complex (MAC).