ArticleBreast cancer research : BCR2021
Breast adipose tissue macrophages (BATMs) have a stronger correlation with breast cancer survival than breast tumor stroma macrophages (BTSMs).
Article in Breast cancer research : BCR, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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10 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 11 citations in OpenAlex.
- Unraveling Biomarker Signatures in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review for Targeted Approaches.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Pooled it
- 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
- Macrophage polarization is associated with postoperative seroma development in breast cancer in the SerMa pilot cohort.Scientific reports · 2025Observational
- The prognostic role of perinephric adipose tissue macrophages in localized clear cell renal cell carcinoma.World journal of surgical oncology · 2025Article
- Single-cell transcriptomes of dissecting the intra-tumoral heterogeneity of breast cancer microenvironment.Journal of cancer research and clinical oncology · 2024Article
- Adipose Tissue Macrophages.Results and problems in cell differentiation · 2024Review
- KLF11 is an independent negative prognostic factor for breast cancer from a cohort study and induces proliferation and inhibits apoptosis in vitro.Breast cancer (Tokyo, Japan) · 2023Article
- Article
- Potential Pro-Tumorigenic Effect of Bisphenol A in Breast Cancer via Altering the Tumor Microenvironment.Cancers · 2022Review
- The pleiotropic roles of adipocyte secretome in remodeling breast cancer.Journal of experimental & clinical cancer research : CR · 2022Review
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12 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAn abundance of tumor-associated macrophages has been shown to be an independent prognostic factor for a poor prognosis of human breast cancer (BC). Adipose tissue accounts for the largest proportion of the breast and has also been identified as an independent indicator of poor survival in BC. This study aims to elucidate if the influence of adipose tissue in BC might be mediated by macrophages. The roles of macrophages in the breast tumor-stroma (breast tumor stroma macrophages, BTSM) and macrophages in the surrounding adipose tissue (breast adipose tissue macrophages, BATM) were explored separately.
methodsTwo hundred ninety-eight BC tissue samples were analyzed immunohistochemically. The number of macrophages was detected by CD68+ staining. The quantity of BATMs and BTSMs was correlated to clinical and pathological parameters as well as to disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS).
resultsThe amounts of BATMs and BTSMs strongly correlated with each other (r = 0.5, p = 2.98E-15). The quantity of BTSMs, but not of BATMs, was significantly associated with the BC molecular subtype (p = 0.000011), and all triple-negative BC tumors contained high amounts of BTSMs. BATMs were negatively associated with DFS (p = 0.0332). Both BATMs (p = 0.000401) and BTSMs (p = 0.021) were negatively associated with OS in the Kaplan-Meier analysis, but only BATMs remained an independent factor in the multivariate Cox-regression analysis (HR = 4.464, p = 0.004). Combining prostaglandin E2 receptor 3 (EP3)-expression and the quantity of BATMs, a subgroup with an extremely poor prognosis could be identified (median OS 2.31 years in the "high BATMs/low EP3" subgroup compared to 11.42 years in the most favorable "low BATMs/high EP3" subgroup, p = 0.000002).
conclusionOur findings suggest that BTSMs and BATMs seem to be involved differently in BC. Breast adipose tissue might contribute to the aggressiveness of BC via BATMs, which were independently associated with BC survival. BATMs' role and occurrence might be functionally dependent on EP3, as a combination of both factors was strongly associated with survival. Targeting BATMs-eventually in combination with targeting the EP3-pathway-might be promising for future therapies.
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