Background:Tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) are known to be associated with response to primary systemic therapy (PST) in breast cancer. This study was conducted to assess the association of TIL subsets with pathological complete response (pCR) after PST in breast cancer in relation to breast cancer subtype, breast cancer stem cell (BCSC) phenotype and epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT).Methods:The pre-chemotherapeutic biopsy specimens of 153 breast cancer patients who underwent surgical resection after anthracycline- or anthracycline/taxane-based PST were analysed. TIL subsets (CD4+, CD8+, and FOXP3+ TILs), BCSC phenotype, and the expression of EMT markers were evaluated by immunohistochemistry and were correlated with pCR after PST.Results:Infiltration of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes was closely correlated with BCSC phenotype and EMT. High levels of CD4+, CD8+, and FOXP3+ TILs were associated with pCR, and CD8+ TILs were found to be an independent predictive factor for pCR. In addition, CD8+ TILs were associated with pCR irrespective of breast cancer subtype, CD44+/CD24− phenotype, EMT, and chemotherapeutic regimen in subgroup analyses.Conclusion:These findings indicate that CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes are a key component of TILs associated with chemo-response and can be used as a reliable predictor of response to anthracycline- or anthracycline/taxane-based PST in breast cancer.
Purpose Pregnancy is a known predisposing factor for central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC). Choroidal thickness (CT) increases in patients with CSC. This study was designed to evaluate CT in pregnant women. Patients and methods This was a prospective study. Fourteen healthy pregnant women and seven patients with pre-eclampsia were included. Twenty-one normal subjects were also recruited. CT was measured using enhanced-depth imaging optical coherence tomography.Results The mean CT of normal subjects, healthy pregnant women and patients with pre-eclampsia were 264.95 ± 21.03, 274.23 ± 29.30 and 389.79 ± 25.13 μm, respectively (normal subjects vs healthy gravidas: P40.05; normal subjects vs pre-eclampsia: Po0.001; healthy gravidas vs pre-eclampsia: Po0.001). CT decreased from 381.05 ± 22.96 μm to 335.17 ± 9.97 μm 1 week after delivery in patients with pre-eclampsia. Conclusions Pregnancy itself did not increase CT, whereas pre-eclampsia did appear to result in increased CT. This suggests that additional unknown factors induce hyperpermeability in pregnant women.
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