Abstract Background T cell immunoglobulin and mucin-domain containing protein 3 (TIM-3) is an immune checkpoint that plays a crucial role in immune exhaustion. High expression of TIM-3 has been implicated in exerting immunosuppression across a variety of malignant tumors. Elucidating the expression profile of TIM-3 and its prognostic impact may hold great significance for the therapeutic management of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC). Methods We analyzed 117 ICC patients using immunohistochemical staining for TIM-3 and other immune checkpoints to examined their expression and immune cell infiltration in ICC tissue samples. Furthermore, the correlation of checkpoint expression with clinical characteristics and prognosis were analyzed. Results High expression of TIM-3 in tumor cells was observed in 61 patients (52.1%) and was significantly correlated with poorer tumor differentiation ( P = 0.019). Survival analysis showed that high TIM-3 expression in tumor cells was a prognostic factor for disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) in univariate analysis, and an independent risk predictor for DFS in multivariate analysis ( P = 0.048, HR = 1.589, 95%CI = 1.004–2.515). Furthermore, TIM-3 expression in ICC tissues was significantly correlated with CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (both P < 0.005). Conclusion Patients with high TIM-3 expression in tumor cells had shorter DFS and OS, which could serve as a valuable biomarker for predicting the inflammatory status and prognosis of ICC. Targeting TIM-3 may represent a promising therapeutic strategy for ICC.
Yin et al. (2026) studied this question.