title: High infiltration of tumor-associated macrophages in triple-negative breast cancer is associated with a higher risk of distant metastasis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is associated with poor prognosis and high probability of distant metastases. Tumor microenvironments play a pivotal role in tumor metastasis. Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are one of the main cell components, and they are correlated with increasing metastatic risk. The aim of this study is to analyze the prognostic significance of the infiltration of TAMs in patients with TNBC.
  
  
  METHODS
  Immunohistochemical staining for cluster of differentiation (CD)68 (a marker for macrophages) was performed on tissue microarrays of operable breast cancer among 287 patients with TNBC, and the number of infiltrating TAMs was correlated with clinicopathological parameters.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found that TNBC with a large number of infiltrating TAMs had a significantly higher risk of distant metastasis, as well as lower rates of disease-free survival and overall survival than those with a smaller number of infiltrating TAMs. Multivariate analysis indicated that the number of infiltrating TAMs was a significant independent prognostic factor of disease-free survival (P=0.001) in all patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggested that high infiltrating TAMs are a significantly unfavorable prognostic factor for patients with TNBC, and they could become a potentially useful prognostic marker for TNBC.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China ; Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China ; Departments of Medical Oncology, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zhong-Yu
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China ; Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China ; Departments of Pathology, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Rong-Zhen
authors.initials: RZ
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China ; Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China ; Departments of Medical Oncology, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Rou-Jun
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China ; Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China ; Departments of Medical Oncology, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Shu-Sen
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China ; Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China ; Departments of Medical Oncology, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Cong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xue
keywords: breast carcinoma; prognosis; triple-negative; tumor-associated macrophages