Endothelial-derived PANoptosis factor IL33 is a potential immunotherapy in breast cancer

Breast cancer (BC) heterogeneity necessitates prognostic and therapeutic biomarkers. PANoptosis remains incompletely understood with regard to its role in BC immunomodulation and clinical outcomes. Here, we integrated transcriptomic data from 7067 patients with BC across multiple cohorts. Patients were stratified via non-negative matrix factorization based on PANoptosis-related gene expression, revealing three distinct clusters. Cluster C3 exhibited the poorest overall survival, characterized by upregulated lipid metabolism and suppressed immunity. A prognostic signature was constructed using a random survival forest model and served as an independent prognostic factor. Single-cell RNA sequencing of 31 tumors identified IL-33-expressing endothelial subclusters (ACKR1⁺ and FBLN5⁺) as key regulators of the tumor immune microenvironment. Reduced IL-33 expression correlated with increased M2 macrophages and CD4⁺ T cell depletion, while sex-specific analysis revealed IL-33 as a predictor of immunotherapy response. Our findings underscore the role of PANoptosis and IL-33⁺ endothelial cells in shaping BC immunity and prognosis.