Embodiments predict early stage NSCLC recurrence, and include an image acquisition circuit configured to access an image of a region of tissue demonstrating early-stage NSCLC including a plurality of cellular nuclei; a nuclei detecting and segmentation circuit configured to detect a member of the plurality; and classify the member as a tumor infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) nucleus or non-TIL nucleus; a spatial TIL feature circuit configured to extract spatial TIL features from the plurality, the spatial TIL features including a first subset of features based on the spatial arrangement of TIL nuclei, and a second subset of features based on the spatial relationship between TIL nuclei and non-TIL nuclei; and an NSCLC recurrence classification circuit configured to compute a probability that region will experience recurrence based on the spatial TIL features; and generate a classification of the region as likely or unlikely to experience recurrence based on the probability.