Increased Stromal Infiltrating Lymphocytes Are Associated with the Risk of Disease Progression in Mesenchymal Circulating Tumor Cell-Positive Primary Breast Cancer Patients

Increased Stromal Infiltrating Lymphocytes Are Associated with the Risk of Disease Progression in Mesenchymal Circulating Tumor Cell-Positive Primary Breast Cancer Patients

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and the immune infiltration of tumors are closely related to clinical outcomes. This study aimed to verify the influence of stromal lymphocyte infiltration and the immune context of tumor microenvironment on the hematogenous spread and prognosis of 282 chemotherapy naï...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Bozena Smolkova, Zuzana Cierna, Katarina Kalavska, Svetlana Miklikova, Jana Plava, Gabriel Minarik, Tatiana Sedlackova, Dana Cholujova, Paulina Gronesova, Marina Cihova, Karolina Majerova, Marian Karaba, Juraj Benca, Daniel Pindak, Jozef Mardiak, Michal Mego
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-12-01
Series:International Journal of Molecular Sciences
Subjects:
circulating tumor cells
tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes
primary breast cancer
cytokines
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/21/24/9460
Description
Summary:Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and the immune infiltration of tumors are closely related to clinical outcomes. This study aimed to verify the influence of stromal lymphocyte infiltration and the immune context of tumor microenvironment on the hematogenous spread and prognosis of 282 chemotherapy naïve primary BC patients. To detect the presence of mesenchymal CTCs, RNA extracted from CD45-depleted peripheral blood was interrogated for the expression of mesenchymal gene transcripts. Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) were detected in the stromal areas by immunohistochemistry, using CD3, CD8, and CD45RO antibodies. The concentrations of 51 plasma cytokines were measured by multiplex bead arrays. TILs infiltration in mesenchymal CTC-positive patients significantly decreased their progression-free survival (HR = 4.88, 95% CI 2.30–10.37, <i>p</i> < 0.001 for CD3<sup>high</sup>; HR = 6.17, 95% CI 2.75–13.80, <i>p</i> < 0.001 for CD8<sup>high</sup>; HR = 6.93, 95% CI 2.86–16.81, <i>p</i> < 0.001 for CD45RO<sup>high</sup>). Moreover, the combination of elevated plasma concentrations of transforming growth factor beta-3 (cut-off 662 pg/mL), decreased monocyte chemotactic protein-3 (cut-off 52.5 pg/mL) and interleukin-15 (cut-off 17.1 pg/mL) significantly increased the risk of disease recurrence (HR = 4.838, 95% CI 2.048–11.427, <i>p</i> < 0.001). Our results suggest a strong impact of the immune tumor microenvironment on BC progression, especially through influencing the dissemination and survival of more aggressive, mesenchymal CTC subtypes.
ISSN:1661-6596
1422-0067

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