Prognostic value of CD163⁺ macrophages in solid tumor malignancies: A scoping review

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) play crucial roles in development and progression of malignant diseases. Notably, CD163⁺ TAMs likely perform specific pro-tumorigenic functions, suggesting that this subset may serve as both prognostic biomarkers and targets for future anti-cancer therapy. We conducted a scoping review to map the current knowledge on the prognostic role of CD163⁺ TAMs in the five most lethal cancers worldwide: Lung, colorectal, gastric, liver, and breast cancer. For all cancer types, most studies showed that high tumoral presence of CD163⁺ cells was associated with poor patient outcome, and this association was more frequently observed when CD163⁺ cells were measured at the tumor periphery compared to more central parts of the tumor. These results support that CD163⁺ TAMs represent a biomarker of poor patient outcome across a variety of solid tumors, and highlight the relevance of further investigations of CD163⁺ TAMs as targets of future immunotherapies.