<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>The study aimed to investigate immune cell infiltration in different subtypes of breast cancer (BC). Retrospectively were selected 100 patients with primary BC, grouped into four molecular surrogate subtypes (Luminal A and Luminal B-like, HER2-positive and triple-negative - TN), determined by immunohistochemistry (IHC). In each patient, a percentage of stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) was determined by hematoxylin-eosin staining. IHC was performed using primary antibodies CD3, CD4, CD8, CD20, and FOXP3. Immunophenotyped lymphocytes were counted (separately intratumoral and stromal) and semi-quantitatively graded. In the studied tumors, 10% were defined as lymphocyte-predominant BC. A high count of intratumoral and stromal TILs subsets was found mainly in TN and HER2-positive BC. The stroma is the preferred localization for immune cells in all four BC subtypes. CD3+ T predominates over CD20+ B lymphocytes, with CD8+ T cytotoxic and FoxP3+ T regulatory cells dominating T subtypes. HER2 and TN are more immunogenic than Luminal A and Luminal B – like subtypes of BC. The T-cells’ immune response was predominant in the studied cases of BC, with a predominance of CD8+ Tc and Foxp3+ Treg cells located mainly in the stroma.</p>
</abstract>

The study aimed to investigate immune cell infiltration in different subtypes of breast cancer (BC). Retrospectively were selected 100 patients with primary BC, grouped into four molecular surrogate subtypes (Luminal A and Luminal B-like, HER2-positive and triple-negative - TN), determined by immunohistochemistry (IHC). In each patient, a percentage of stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) was determined by hematoxylin-eosin staining. IHC was performed using primary antibodies CD3, CD4, CD8, CD20, and FOXP3. Immunophenotyped lymphocytes were counted (separately intratumoral and stromal) and semi-quantitatively graded. In the studied tumors, 10% were defined as lymphocyte-predominant BC. A high count of intratumoral and stromal TILs subsets was found mainly in TN and HER2-positive BC. The stroma is the preferred localization for immune cells in all four BC subtypes. CD3+ T predominates over CD20+ B lymphocytes, with CD8+ T cytotoxic and FoxP3+ T regulatory cells dominating T subtypes. HER2 and TN are more immunogenic than Luminal A and Luminal B – like subtypes of BC. The T-cells’ immune response was predominant in the studied cases of BC, with a predominance of CD8+ Tc and Foxp3+ Treg cells located mainly in the stroma.

A Study on Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes in Different Subtypes of Breast Cancer

Journal of Biomedical and Clinical Research

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

{"article-title":"A Study on Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes in Different Subtypes of Breast Cancer"}

The study aimed to investigate immune cell infiltration in different subtypes of breast cancer (BC). Retrospectively were selected 100 patients with primary...

A Study on Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes in Different Subtypes of Breast Cancer

Published Online: Jul 12, 2021

Page range: 70 - 81

Received: Jan 15, 2021

Accepted: Apr 22, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jbcr-2021-0008

Keywords
breast cancer, tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, immunohistochemistry

© 2021 Polina D. Dimitrova et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

A Study on Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes in Different Subtypes of Breast Cancer

Published Online: Jul 12, 2021

Page range: 70 - 81

Received: Jan 15, 2021

Accepted: Apr 22, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jbcr-2021-0008

Keywordsbreast cancer, tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, immunohistochemistry

© 2021 Polina D. Dimitrova et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
breast cancer, tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, immunohistochemistry