Invasive Breast Carcinoma with Abundant Collagenous Stroma Shows Lower Level of CD68-Positive Tumor Associated Macrophages than Those of Invasive Carcinoma without Abundant Collagenous Stroma.

BACKGROUND AND AIM OF THE WORK

The significance of association between cancer and its stromal microenvironment has been recognized. We aimed to investigate the immunohistochemical staining features of D2-40 (podoplanin), SMA (smooth muscle actin) and CD68 (pan-macrophage marker) in patients with early stage invasive breast cancer with/out peritumoral PASH-like stroma.

METHODS

The H&E sections of core needle biopsy specimens of invasive breast carcinomas diagnosed during one-year time period were reviewed in terms of the presence of accompanying PASH-like stroma retrospectively. Cases with similar pattern of growth in their surgical excision materials were included. Eight cases were grouped as 'Invasive tumor with PASH-like stroma' and 21 cases as 'Invasive tumor without PASH-like stroma', consecutively. The results of immunohistochemical staining for D2-40, SMA and CD68 were noted semiquantitatively as 'negative','weak', moderate' or 'strong'.

RESULTS

CD68 was found significantly lower in invasive tumor with peritumoral PASH-like stroma than those of tumor without PASH-like stroma. No significant differences were found for SMA and D2-40 between two groups.  Conclusions: Tumor-associated macrophages (CD68 positive) in tumor stroma have been demonstrated in association with tumor behavior in several studies. The presence of peritumoral PASH-like stroma, which is poorly staining for CD68, might be a morphological clue for the behavior of tumor.