Cell mediated immune status in carcinoma breast

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Immunology

Background:

• Cell-mediated immunity (CMI) plays a crucial role in cancer surveillance.
• Assessing T lymphocyte parameters can provide insights into the immune status of breast cancer patients.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the CMI status in breast carcinoma patients by analyzing T lymphocyte parameters.
• To correlate CMI status with clinical staging and histopathological types of breast cancer.

Main Methods:

• Studied 36 breast carcinoma cases, assessing T lymphocyte count (TPLC), T percentage (T%), and total T cells (TTC).
• Compared T lymphocyte parameters between breast cancer patients and control groups.
• Analyzed CMI status in relation to clinical stage (I-IV) and tumor infiltration.

Main Results:

• Breast carcinoma patients showed depressed mean TPLC, T%, and TTC compared to controls.
• CMI depression was progressive with advancing clinical stage (Stage I to IV).
• Infiltrating breast cancer types exhibited significantly lower T lymphocyte values than non-infiltrating types, with Invasive Ductal Carcinoma (IDC) and Mucinous Carcinoma (Muc. Ca) showing the worst prognosis.

Conclusions:

• Depressed CMI, indicated by reduced T lymphocyte counts, is associated with breast carcinoma.
• The degree of CMI suppression correlates with clinical stage and tumor invasiveness, suggesting prognostic value.
• Lymphocyte infiltration into the tumor mass may indicate a relatively better prognosis despite CMI depression.