Altered local and systemic immune profiles underlie lymph node metastasis in breast cancer patients.

ABSTRACT: Cancer-mediated immune dysfunction contributes to tumor progression and correlates with patient outcome. Metastasis to tumor draining lymph nodes (TDLNs) is an important step in breast cancer progression and is used to predict patient outcome and survival. Although lymph nodes are important immune organs, the role of immune cells in TDLNs has not been thoroughly investigated. We hypothesized that the host immune response in node negative (NN) patients is more intact and thereby can resist tumor invasion compared to node positive (NP) patients. As such, lymph node metastasis requires breakdown of the host immune response in addition to escape of cancer cells from the tumor. To investigate the immunological differences between NN and NP breast cancer patients, we purified and profiled immune

SUBMITTER: Zuckerman NS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3609917 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature