title: Cancers with Higher Density of Tumor-Associated Macrophages Were Associated with Poor Survival Rates.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Macrophages are a component of a tumor's microenvironment and have various roles in tumor progression and metastasis. This study evaluated the relationships between tumor-associated macrophage (TAM) density and clinical outcomes in 14 different types of human cancers.
  
  
  METHODS
  We investigated TAM density in human tissue microarray sections from 14 different types of human cancers (n = 266) and normal thyroid, lung, and breast tissues (n = 22). The five-year survival rates of each cancer were obtained from the 2011 Korea Central Cancer Registry.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among 13 human cancers, excluding thyroid cancer, pancreas, lung, and gallbladder cancers had the highest density of CD163-positive macrophages (7.0±3.5%, 6.9±7.4%, and 6.9 ± 5.5%, respectively). The five-year relative survival rates of these cancers (pancreas, 8.7%; lung, 20.7%; gallbladder, 27.5%) were lower than those of other cancers. The histological subtypes in thyroid cancer exhibited significantly different CD163-positive macrophages densities (papillary, 1.8 ± 1.6% vs anaplastic, 22.9 ± 17.1%; p < .001), but no significant difference between histological subtypes was detected in lung and breast cancers. Moreover, there was no significant difference in CD163-positive macrophages densities among the TNM stages in lung, breast, and thyroid cancers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Cancers with higher TAM densities (pancreas, lung, anaplastic thyroid, and gallbladder) were associated with poor survival rate.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea ; Department of Internal Medicine, Eulji University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Kyong Yeun
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea ; Department of Internal Medicine, National Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Sun Wook
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, SMG-SNU Boramae Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Young A
authors.initials: YA
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, National Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Daein
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Lee Gil Ya Cancer and Diabetes Institute, Gachon University Graduate School of Medicine, Incheon, Korea.
authors.forename: Byung-Chul
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Do Joon
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Young Joo
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Park
keywords: Neoplasms; Prognosis; Tumor-associated macrophage