Tumor microenvironment and breast cancer survival: combined effects of breast fat, M2 macrophages and hyaluronan create a dismal prognosis.

ABSTRACT: PURPOSE:Tumor microenvironment, including inflammatory cells, adipocytes and extracellular matrix constituents such as hyaluronan (HA), impacts on cancer progression. Systemic metabolism also influences tumor growth e.g. obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D) are risk factors for breast cancer. Here, in 262 breast cancer cases, we explored the combined impacts on survival of M2-like tumor associated macrophages (TAMs), the abundance of breast fat visualized as low density in mammograms, and tumor HA, and their associations with T2D. METHODS:Mammographic densities were assessed visually from the diagnostic images and dichotomized into very low density (VLD, density ≤ 10%, "fatty breast") and mixed density (MID, density > 10%). The amounts of TAMs (CD163+ and CD68+) and tumor HA were determined b

SUBMITTER: Tiainen S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6997252 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature