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Published on: February 8, 2018
CD47 (don't eat me signal) expression levels and its relationship with clinicopathologic features in early-stage
Hüseyin S Semiz1, Ülkü Küçük2, Erdem Kısa3
1Department of Medical Oncology, Institute of Oncology, Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey.
Background:
Prostate cancer is a cancer with poor host immune response and could be defined as a non-T-cell inflamed tumor. Therefore, immunotherapy treatments could not be included in the treatment of prostate cancer until recently. Inadequate antitumoral response is one of the main reasons why tumor cells multiply rapidly and cause lethal results. It was shown that CD47 molecule, which is secreted at high levels by leukemia cells, reduces macrophage-mediated phagocytosis and thus facilitates escape from the antitumoral immune response. The aim of this study was to show don't eat me signaling in prostate carcinoma tissues and its relationship with macrophage polarization.
Materials And Methods:
A total of 263 patients with a diagnosis of prostatic adenocarcinoma after radical prostatectomy between 2015 and 2020 at our institute were included in the study. CD47, CD68, and CD163 expression levels were examined immunohistochemically (IHC) in these tissues. The relationship of these expression levels with unfavorable prognostic factors and survival for prostate carcinoma was investigated.
Results:
In this study, all the operated prostate carcinoma cases had CD47 expression in tumor tissue, but only 52.5% had a high level of expression. Of 263 prostate cancer tissues, 135 (51.3%) showed high expression of CD68 protein and 189 (71.9%) showed high expression of CD163 protein. There was a statistically strong relationship between CD47, CD68, and CD163.
Conclusions:
The CD47 molecule is basically a molecule that inhibits macrophage activation. CD68 is mostly used for macrophage classification, while CD163 is used for tumor-associated macrophage classification. Unlike others, we IHC examined CD47, CD68, and CD163 expressions in the surgical materials of patients who were operated for prostate carcinoma. In addition, we concluded that strong CD47 expression was closely associated with strong CD68 and CD163 expression in all tumor samples. However, a significant relationship between these expression levels and survival could not be demonstrated.
Insights
Prostate cancer exhibits poor immune response, allowing tumor cells to evade detection. This study found a strong link between CD47, CD68, and CD163 expression in prostate tumors, suggesting a potential immune evasion mechanism.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Immunology
- Pathology
Background:
- Prostate cancer is characterized by a weak host immune response, classifying it as a non-T-cell inflamed tumor.
- The CD47 molecule inhibits macrophage-mediated phagocytosis, enabling tumor cells to escape immune surveillance.
- Understanding immune evasion mechanisms is crucial for developing effective prostate cancer treatments.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the presence and significance of "don't eat me" signaling, mediated by CD47, in prostate carcinoma tissues.
- To explore the relationship between CD47 expression and macrophage polarization markers (CD68 and CD163) in prostate cancer.
- To determine the correlation of these markers with prognostic factors and survival outcomes in prostate cancer patients.
Main Methods:
- Immunohistochemical analysis of CD47, CD68, and CD163 expression in prostatectomy tissues from 263 patients.
- Quantification of protein expression levels for each marker.
- Statistical analysis to assess the relationships between marker expression, clinicopathological features, and patient survival.
Main Results:
- CD47 expression was detected in all prostate carcinoma tissues, with high expression in 52.5% of cases.
- High expression of CD68 (51.3%) and CD163 (71.9%) was observed in a significant proportion of the tumors.
- A statistically significant association was found between high CD47, CD68, and CD163 expression levels.
Conclusions:
- Strong CD47 expression is closely associated with strong CD68 and CD163 expression in prostate carcinoma surgical samples.
- While these markers are linked, their expression levels did not show a significant correlation with patient survival.
- Further research is needed to fully elucidate the role of CD47 and macrophage polarization in prostate cancer progression and treatment response.
