Benign breast tumors may arise on different immunological backgrounds

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Immunology
• Bioinformatics

Background:

• Benign breast tumors, while nonthreatening, offer insights into tumor biology.
• Understanding differences between benign and malignant breast lesions is crucial for diagnosis and treatment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify biological differences between normal, benign, and malignant breast tissues.
• To investigate the immune-related pathways distinguishing benign from malignant breast tumors.
• To explore the potential of immune profiles for noninvasive diagnostic methods.

Main Methods:

• Utilized pathway analysis algorithms: Pathifier and gene set variation analysis (GSVA).
• Analyzed a clinical dataset of breast tissues and validated findings in the METABRIC dataset.
• Employed the CIBERSORT deconvolution tool to analyze immune cell populations.

Main Results:

• Identified significant differences in immune-related pathways between benign and malignant tumors, with 227 validated by both methods.
• Discovered five key immune pathways (cytokine and interferon signaling) linked to overall survival in cancer patients.
• Found higher levels of resting dendritic cells and follicular T-helper cells in benign tumors compared to malignant ones.

Conclusions:

• Distinct immune profiles exist between benign and malignant breast tumors.
• Immune-related pathways, particularly those involving cytokine and interferon signaling, are significantly altered in breast cancer.
• Further understanding of these immune differences may facilitate the development of noninvasive diagnostic tools for breast lesions.