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Updated: Jun 29, 2025
Neutrophil Isolation and Analysis to Determine their Role in Lymphoma Cell Sensitivity to Therapeutic Agents
Published on: March 25, 2016
Prognostic impact of tumor-associated neutrophils in breast cancer
Akinari Kakumoto1, Tsengelmaa Jamiyan2, Hajime Kuroda1,3
1Department of Diagnostic Pathology, Tokyo Women's Medical University Adachi Medical Center 4-33-1 Kohoku Adachi-Ku, Tokyo 123-0872, Japan.
Objectives:
Neutrophils are the most common type of leukocyte in mammals and play an essential role in the innate immune system and anti-cancer responses. However, recent studies identified the presence of tumor-associated neutrophils (TANs) as a poor prognostic factor. The present study investigated whether relationships exist between TANs and the clinicopathological factors and genetic status of breast cancer.
Methods:
A total of 196 breast cancer patients with sufficient biopsy, breast-conserving surgery, or mastectomy specimens between 2014 and 2021 in Hokuto Hospital were included.
Results:
TANs were individually counted in the tumor stroma (TS) and tumor nest (TN). A higher density of TANs in both TS and TN correlated with tumor size (TS P = 0.010; TN P = 0.001), a high histological grade (TS P < 0.001; TN P < 0.001), the histological type (TS P = 0.009; TN P = 0.034), a high ratio of lymph node metastasis (TS P < 0.001; TN P < 0.001), an advanced stage of cancer (TS P < 0.001; TN P = 0.002), intrinsic subtypes (TS P < 0.001; TN P < 0.001), ERBB2 (TS P < 0.001; TN P < 0.001), MAP3K1 (TS P = 0.002; TN P = 0.023), and TP53 (TS P < 0.001; TN P < 0.001). A higher density of TANs in TS and TN also correlated with shorter disease-free survival and overall survival (P < 0.001).
Conclusion:
The present results suggest that a higher density of TANs correlates with unfavorable prognostic factors in breast cancer. Further research on clinicopathological and genetic factors associated with TANs in breast cancer is needed.
