Prognostic value of CD163 macrophages in solid tumor malignancies: A scoping review.

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) play crucial roles in development and progression of malignant diseases. Notably, CD163 TAMs likely perform specific pro-tumorigenic functions, suggesting that this subset may serve as both prognostic biomarkers and targets for future anti-cancer therapy. We conducted a scoping review to map the current knowledge on the prognostic role of CD163 TAMs in the five most lethal cancers worldwide: Lung, colorectal, gastric, liver, and breast cancer. For all cancer types, most studies showed that high tumoral presence of CD163 cells was associated with poor patient outcome, and this association was more frequently observed when CD163 cells were measured at the tumor periphery compared to more central parts of the tumor. These results support that CD163 TAMs represent a biomarker of poor patient outcome across a variety of solid tumors, and highlight the relevance of further investigations of CD163 TAMs as targets of future immunotherapies.