Martinez-Cannon Bertha Alejandra, Garcia-Ronquillo Karen, Rivera-Franco Monica M, Leon-Rodriguez Eucario
Hematology-Oncology Department, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Medicas y Nutricion Salvador Zubiran, Mexico City, Mexico.
Eurocord, Hôpital Saint-Louis APHP, Institut de Recherche de Saint-Louis (IRSL) EA3518, Université de Paris Cité, Paris, France.
Front Oncol. 2023 Jan 16;12:1044611. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2022.1044611. eCollection 2022.
Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), three-dimensional structures formed by neutrophil enzymes such as neutrophil elastase (NE) and nuclear components (DNA), have been associated with progression and metastasis in breast cancer (BC). Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the association of circulating NETs with clinicopathological characteristics and outcomes in early BC.
A prospective cohort included women with newly diagnosed early BC. NETs were defined as the presence of NE-DNA complexes in plasma, measured by optical density. Levels of NETs were dichotomized according to the median, as low and high levels of circulating NETs. Fisher's exact test was used to evaluate associations between NETs and clinicopathological characteristics and outcomes. Survival was assessed using the Kaplan Meier method and log-rank test.
Forty patients were included, 23 (57.5%) patients with low and 17 (42.5%) with high levels of circulating NETs. No associations were found between clinicopathological characteristics and circulating NETs levels. Recurrence (p = 0.99) and site of recurrence (p = 0.99) were not statistically associated with plasma NETs levels. Overall, recurrence-free survival was not statistically different between circulating levels of NETs.
With a short follow-up and low number of events, our results suggest that circulating levels of NETs at diagnosis of early BC are not associated with more aggressive clinicopathological characteristics, recurrence, or site of recurrence.
中性粒细胞胞外陷阱（NETs）是由中性粒细胞弹性蛋白酶（NE）等中性粒细胞酶和核成分（DNA）形成的三维结构，与乳腺癌（BC）的进展和转移有关。因此，本研究旨在评估循环NETs与早期BC临床病理特征及预后的相关性。
一项前瞻性队列研究纳入了新诊断的早期BC女性患者。NETs定义为血浆中NE-DNA复合物的存在，通过光密度测量。NETs水平根据中位数分为低循环NETs水平和高循环NETs水平。采用Fisher精确检验评估NETs与临床病理特征及预后之间的相关性。使用Kaplan-Meier方法和对数秩检验评估生存率。
共纳入40例患者，23例（57.5%）循环NETs水平低，17例（42.5%）循环NETs水平高。未发现临床病理特征与循环NETs水平之间存在相关性。复发（p = 0.99）和复发部位（p = 0.99）与血浆NETs水平无统计学关联。总体而言，NETs循环水平之间的无复发生存率无统计学差异。
由于随访时间短且事件数量少，我们的结果表明，早期BC诊断时循环NETs水平与更具侵袭性的临床病理特征、复发或复发部位无关。
