SynthesisOncotarget2017
Prognostic significance of tumor-associated macrophages in breast cancer: a meta-analysis of the literature.
Synthesis in Oncotarget, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 217 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
217 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 338 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Prognostic and Clinical Value of Tumor-Associated Macrophages in Patients With Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in oncology · 2022Pooled it
- The prognostic value of tumor-associated macrophages detected by immunostaining in diffuse large B cell lymphoma: A meta-analysis.Frontiers in oncology · 2022Pooled it
- Prognostic significance of tumor-associated macrophages in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma: A meta-analysis.Medicine · 2020Pooled it
- Associations between tumor immune response and prognosis in node-negative breast cancer patients in the randomized DBCG HYPO trial.BMC cancer · 2026Trial
- CSF1R Inhibition in Patients with Advanced Solid Tumors or Tenosynovial Giant Cell Tumor: A Phase I Study of Vimseltinib.Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research · 2024Trial
- Trial
- Endogenous glucocorticoids and glucocorticoid receptor signaling: Dual regulators of PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapy efficacy in the tumor microenvironment.Chinese medical journal · 2026Review
- Immune Cell Composition and Prognosis in Node-Positive, Irradiated Breast Cancer Patients in the DBCG-IMN2 Study.APMIS : acta pathologica, microbiologica, et immunologica Scandinavica · 2026Article
- Chemotherapeutics as Immune Modulators for the Treatment of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer.Cancers · 2026Review
- The M1 Paradox: Pro-Tumorigenic Effect of Macrophage Cytotoxicity in Prostate Cancer.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Spatiotemporal dynamics of radioresistance: decoding macrophage-driven radioprotective niches through temporal-spatial reprogramming.Molecular cancer · 2026Review
- Lactate metabolism and protein lactylation in cancer.Molecular biomedicine · 2026Review
- The myeloid SRC family kinase HCK regulates breast cancer growth by activating tumor-associated macrophage-led invasion and inhibiting cytotoxic T cell activity.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Article
- Article
- IFI30 promotes tumor-associated macrophage infiltration via activation of the ATF3-CCL5 axis in breast cancer.Innovation (Cambridge (Mass.)) · 2025Article
- Exosomal MicroRNA: Diagnostic Potential and Role in Breast Cancer Dissemination.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Lysine-Leucine-Rich Frog Skin Antimicrobial Peptides Inhibit Breast Cancer Metastasis by Reprogramming Tumor-Associated Macrophage Polarization.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Tumor-associated macrophages-induced lncRNA RP11-627G18.1 promotes breast cancer metastasis.Genes and immunity · 2025Article
- Chemoresistant tumor cell secretome potentiates immune suppression in triple negative breast cancer.Breast cancer research : BCR · 2025Article
- From silent partners to potential therapeutic targets: macrophages in colorectal cancer.Cancer immunology, immunotherapy : CII · 2025Review
157 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeTumor associated macrophages (TAMs) are important prognostic factors and have been proved to be associated with the invasion and migration of various cancer. However, the relationship between TAMs and breast cancer outcomes remains unclear. EXPERIMENTAL
designSixteen studies with a total of 4,541 breast cancer patients were included in this meta-analysis. Correlation of TAMs with overall survival (OS), disease-free survival(DFS), relapse-free survival (RFS), breast cancer special survival (BCSS) and clinicopathological features were analyzed. Survival data and clinicopathological value were integrated by analyzing hazard ratio(HR) and odds ratio(OR) separately and using Fixed-effect or Random-effect model according to heterogeneity. All statistical tests were two-sided.
resultsOS and DFS were correlated with high density of TAMs with HR= 1.504(1.200, 1.884)/ 2.228(1.716, 2.892) respectively. And subgroup analysis of location and biomarker in OS and DFS group showed prognosis was associated with TAMs distribution and biomarker selection. Besides, TAMs high infiltration was significantly related to age, size, histologic grade, ER/PR status, basal phenotype and vascular invasion.
conclusionHigh density of TAMs was associated with poor survival rates of breast cancer. TAMs in stroma are associated with worse outcome than that in nest and using CD68 as a biomarker for TAMs to evaluate the risk is better than CD163 or CD206 alone. Moreover, high infiltration of TAMs was significantly associated with negative hormone receptor status and malignant phenotype. TAMs infiltration can serve as a novel prognostic factor in breast cancer patients.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.