Association of macrophage infiltration with angiogenesis and prognosis in invasive breast carcinoma.

Abstract

Angiogenesis is a key process in tumor growth and metastasis and is a major independent prognostic factor in breast cancer. A range of cytokines stimulate the tumor neovasculature, and tumor-associated macrophages have been shown recently to produce several important angiogenic factors. We have quantified macrophage infiltration using Chalkley count morphometry in a series of invasive breast carcinomas to investigate the relationship between tumor-associated macrophage infiltration and tumor angiogenesis, and prognosis. There was a significant positive correlation between high vascular grade and increased macrophage index (P = 0.03), and a strong relationship was observed between increased macrophage counts and reduced relapse-free survival (P = 0.006) and reduced overall survival (P = 0.004) as an independent prognostic variable. These data indicate a role for macrophages in angiogenesis and prognosis in breast cancer and that this cell type may represent an important target for immunoinhibitory therapy in breast cancer.

Journal

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Cancer Res

Title: Cancer research

Publisher:

ISSN: 0008-5472

ISSN (Print): 0008-5472

Publication date (Electronic): Oct 15 1996

Volume: 56

Issue: 20

Affiliations

[1 ] Imperial Cancer Research Fund Molecular Oncology Laboratory, University of Oxford Institute of Molecular Medicine, England.

Article

PubMed ID: 8840975

SO-VID: 136c08cd-f84b-4e64-9c1b-8bce6610b5a3