Prognostic value of tumor-infiltrating B lymphocytes and plasma cells in triple-negative breast cancer

Abstract

Background Recent investigations have demonstrated that the tumor microenvironment, including tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), is an important factor in tumor growth and development. While the prognostic correlation of tumor-infiltrating T cells has been widely studied in breast cancer, that of tumor-infiltrating B cells and plasma cells has not received so much attention, especially in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Methods We investigated 114 patients with TNBC who had surgery between 2006 and 2019 at Dokkyo Medical University Hospital. Intratumoral (i) TILs were considered to be lymphocytes within cancer cell nests and directly infiltrating tumor cells. Similarly, stromal (s) TILs were considered to be lymphocytes within the tumor stroma, but not directly infiltrating tumor cells. CD20 + , CD38 + and CD138 + staining was determined by estimating the number of positive B cells. Results sCD20 + TILs had prognostic significance for relapse-free survival (RFS) (p = 0.043) and overall survival (OS) (p = 0.027). The sCD38 + TILs were significantly related to favorable RFS (p = 0.042). iCD38, iCD138, and sCD138 was not significantly correlated with RFS (p = 0.065, p = 0.719, p = 0.074) or OS (p = 0.071, p = 0.689, p = 0.082). Conclusions The present study demonstrated that a high density of sCD20 + TILs was significantly related to favorable prognosis in both RFS and OS. Increased sCD38 + TILs in TNBC were correlated with a significantly favorable prognosis in RFS. These results indicate that TILs–B may have a profound influence on the clinical outcome of TNBC.

Systemic Nos2 Depletion and Cox inhibition limits TNBC disease progression and alters lymphoid cell spatial orientation and density

“…4 A), while the B regs marker CD1d1 was generally reduced ( Fig. 4 A) [ 22 , 23 ]. Nos2/Cox2 blockade also promoted increased proinflammatory N1 neutrophil biomarkers including myeloperoxidase ( Mpo ), neutrophil elastase ( Elane ) and lactoferrin ( Ltf ) expression ( Fig.…”

Tumor microenvironment in triple-negative breast cancer: the correlation of tumor-associated macrophages and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes

“…According to these series of theories, we previously reported that CD20+ TILs may support an increase in CD4+ and CD8+ TILs, altering the anti-tumor response and resulting in a positive prognosis in TNBC [ 5 – 7 ]. Further, although the prognostic correlation with macrophages has been widely reported in breast cancer, there is no consensus on the prognostic impact [ 8 – 12 ].…”

Prognostic analysis of cuproptosis-related gene in triple-negative breast cancer

“…Moreover, a high abundance of regulatory T cells is significantly associated with high tumor expression levels of immune checkpoint inhibitor genes ( 44 , 45 ), which may explain the effective response of the low CRG_score group to immunotherapy. Although the presence of B cells and plasma cells is a good predictor of patient prognosis ( 46 , 47 ), B cells also have immunosuppressive roles in TNBC by enhancing the levels of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) or promoting IL-10 levels to facilitate isotype conversion to immunosuppressive IgG4 antibodies ( 48 , 49 ). In fact, the effects of the humoral immune response on tumors may not be related to the presence of B cells ( 50 ), but rather depend on the tumor antigen recognition ability and activation of the complement signaling pathway, which ultimately determines the immune phenotype of B cells.…”