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.

Paclitaxel Treatment and Proprotein Convertase 1/3 (PC1/3) Knockdown in Macrophages is a Promising Antiglioma Strategy as Revealed by Proteomics and Cytotoxicity Studies

“…Since the last decade, many studies have demonstrated that the density of TAMs is associated with a poor prognosis, suggesting macrophages as a target for clinical therapy [49][50][51][52][53][54][55] .…”

The immune network in thyroid cancer

“…63,54 A myriad of immune cells are present in the TC microenvironment and in some cases are associated with patient outcome. 66,68 However, only studies assessing the functional role of TAMs and TAMCs in the TC microenvironment have provided evidence for their protumorigenic role. 14,24 The majority of these studies were merely qualitative and quantitative analyses of immune cells.…”

“…66 In PTCs, TAMs correlated with lymphnode metastasis, 45 larger tumor size 67 and reduced survival. 68 In PDTC, TAM density correlates with capsular invasion and extrathyroid extension. 66 TAMs represent more than 50% of immune cells in ATCs forming a "microglia-like" in close contact with cancer cells.…”

Immune responses in the thyroid cancer microenvironment: making immunotherapy a possible mission

“…In particular, anaplastic thyroid cancers were found to have the most TAMs, with their 24:12 numbers correlating with poorer prognoses (Jung et al 2015). Although the average number of TAMs tends to be lower in papillary thyroid cancers, there is a similar correlation with clinical outcomes, including more lymph node metastases, larger tumors and reduced survival (Ryder et al 2009, Fang et al 2014, Jung et al 2015. In vitro data also suggested that TAMs could promote invasiveness of a human thyroid cancer cell line through interleukin (IL)-8 secretion (Fang et al 2014).…”

“…The density of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) varies in the different pathologic subtypes of thyroid cancers (Jung et al 2015). In particular, anaplastic thyroid cancers were found to have the most TAMs, with their 24:12 numbers correlating with poorer prognoses (Jung et al 2015).…”