“…8 -11 Mast cells produce a broad repertoire of cytokines to regulate inflammatory responses, growth factors to stimulate blood vessels and fibroblasts, and enzymes capable of releasing growth factors from extracellular matrix. 5,8 -11,27,28,42 In other human tumors studies it has been shown that mast cell function is complicated with both pro -and antitumor effects, 35,[43][44][45][46] but to the best of our knowledge no studies have previously described differential roles of mast cells depending on the local microenvironment within the same clinical material. It is well established that inflammatory cell types within or surrounding tumors such as tumor-associated macrophages 47 and more lately also neutrophils 48 can be educated by growth factors and cytokines within the tumor microenvironment to acquire pro-or antitumor properties.…”