Department of Pathology and Research Laboratory LR18SP10, University Hospital Habib Bourguiba, Sfax, Tunisia; Medical School of Sfax, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia.
Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Screening Processes LR15CBS07, Centre de Biotechnologie de Sfax, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia.
Clin Breast Cancer. 2021 Dec;21(6):e738-e747. doi: 10.1016/j.clbc.2021.02.003. Epub 2021 Feb 16.
Each subgroup of immune cells has a different prognostic role in breast cancer; however, the prognostic impact of tumor-infiltrating natural killer cells (TINKs) is still not well established. Our aim was to assess the prognostic impact of natural killer (NK) cells in breast carcinomas.
NK cells infiltration were assessed by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Statistical analyses were performed to evaluate the correlation of NK cells with clinical-pathological features and outcome.
CD56 IHC was realized in 126 patients. NK cells infiltration showed significant and positive association with tumor high Scarff-Bloom-Richardson (SBR) grade. NK cells were significantly associated with HER2-positive breast cancer and triple-negative breast cancer subtypes. Analyses showed significant and inverse correlation with progesterone and estrogen receptors expression status. High NK cells were significantly related to high Ki-67 labeling index. Our data showed that high NK cells infiltrate was significantly associated with tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in breast cancer tissues. At a median follow-up of 5.5 years, high CD56 expression (≥ 5 cells/10 high power field) was associated significantly with a good overall survival and with good disease-free survival.
In this study, we assessed the important prognostic role of TINKs in breast carcinomas, which seems to be evident despite its association with aggressive pathological features. Thus evaluation of NK cells can be standardized and integrated in daily routine.
免疫细胞的每个亚群在乳腺癌中都有不同的预后作用；然而，肿瘤浸润自然杀伤细胞（TINKs）的预后影响仍未得到很好的确定。我们的目的是评估自然杀伤（NK）细胞在乳腺癌中的预后影响。
通过免疫组织化学（IHC）评估 NK 细胞浸润。进行统计学分析以评估 NK 细胞与临床病理特征和结果的相关性。
在 126 名患者中进行了 CD56 IHC。NK 细胞浸润与肿瘤高 Scarff-Bloom-Richardson（SBR）分级呈显著正相关。NK 细胞与 HER2 阳性乳腺癌和三阴性乳腺癌亚型显著相关。分析显示与孕激素和雌激素受体表达状态呈显著负相关。高 NK 细胞与高 Ki-67 标记指数显著相关。我们的数据表明，高 NK 细胞浸润与乳腺癌组织中的肿瘤浸润淋巴细胞显著相关。在中位随访 5.5 年的时间里，高 CD56 表达（≥ 10 高倍视野 5 个细胞）与良好的总生存率和良好的无病生存率显著相关。
在这项研究中，我们评估了 TINKs 在乳腺癌中的重要预后作用，尽管其与侵袭性病理特征相关，但这种作用似乎很明显。因此，NK 细胞的评估可以标准化并纳入日常常规。
