title: Expression of Tumor-Related Macrophages and Cytokines After Surgery of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Patients and its Implications.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) has negative expression of progesterone receptor (PR) and estrogen receptor (ER), and low expression of human epithelial growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2). This study aimed to investigate the expressional profile of cytokines in TNBC patients with significant expression of macrophages.
  
  
  METHODS
  Immunohistochemical (IHC) S-P staining method was used to detect the tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) marker CD68 expression in 48 cases of TNBC samples. The correlation between CD68 expression and prognosis was analyzed. Expressions of key cytokines--interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-10, IL-12, IL-1β, chemokine (C-C motif) ligand-5 (CCL-5), and macrophage inflammatory protein-2 (MIP-2)--were quantified by RT-PCR and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty-four out of 48 TNBC samples (71.4%) had CD68-positive expression. IL-6 and CCL-5 were up-regulated in high-infiltrated tumors when compared to low-infiltrated samples. Other cytokines had no significant difference regarding the expression level across groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  TAMs were up-regulated in most TNBC patients after the surgery. Its expression suggested unfavorable prognosis, especially in the high-infiltrated group. Those tumors with more macrophage also had elevated expression of cytokine IL-6 and chemotactic factor CCL-5, both of which have potency to be clinical index and drug target for TNBC.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, The Central Hospital of Xiangtan City, Xiangtan, Hunan, China (mainland).
authors.forename: Jianguo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency, The Eastern Hospital of The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China (mainland).
authors.forename: Hongwu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Science and Education, The Central Hospital of Xiangtan City, Xiangtan, Hunan, China (mainland).
authors.forename: Xingwu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, The Central Hospital of Xiangtan City, Xiangtan, Hunan, China (mainland).
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000378:metabolism; D015214:Antigens, Differentiation, Myelomonocytic / Q000378:metabolism; D018946:Chemokine CCL5 / Q000378:metabolism; D054426:Chemokine CXCL2 / Q000378:metabolism; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000378:metabolism; D007378:Interleukins / Q000378:metabolism; D008264:Macrophages / Q000166:cytology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D064726:Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism*; D000097382:CD68 Molecule
chemical_list: D015703:Antigens, CD; D015214:Antigens, Differentiation, Myelomonocytic; D018946:Chemokine CCL5; D054426:Chemokine CXCL2; D016207:Cytokines; D015850:Interleukin-6; D007378:Interleukins; C483024:CCL5 protein, human; C067980:CD68 antigen, human; D000097382:CD68 Molecule; C499706:CXCL2 protein, human; C508600:IL6 protein, human