title: Accumulation of regulatory T cells in sentinel lymph nodes is a prognostic predictor in patients with node-negative breast cancer.
abstract: It has been revealed that sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) from patients with node-negative breast cancer involve RT-PCR detected micrometastases and isolated tumour cells. However, the prognostic significance of the pathologically undetectable micrometastases is still controversial. In this study, we evaluated Foxp3 positive regulatory T cells (Treg) in SLNs as host-side immune marker that has the potential to detect these micrometastases. In the analyses of training set (n=30), elevated Treg was strongly associated with the pathologically undetectable micrometastases. In the analyses of validation set (n=129) in patients with node-negative, relapse-free survival in patients with elevated Treg was significantly shorter than those with lower Treg (p=0.005). Furthermore, in multivariate analyses, elevated Treg was correlated with relapse-free survival (p=0.012). Our data indicate that Treg may increase in the microenvironment of SLNs along with pathologically undetectable micrometastases and is a prognostic predictor in patients with node-negative breast cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuoku, Chiba 260-8677, Japan.
authors.forename: Rikiya
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sakakibara
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nagashima
authors.forename: Takafumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sangai
authors.forename: Manabu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arai
authors.forename: Toshihiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fujimori
authors.forename: Shigetsugu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takano
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shida
authors.forename: Yukio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakatani
authors.forename: Masaru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miyazaki
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D018270:Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology*; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D021701:Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C418974:FOXP3 protein, human; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors