Histopathological growth patterns and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in breast cancer liver metastases
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Published:2023-12-15
Issue:1
Volume:9
Page:
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ISSN:2374-4677
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Container-title:npj Breast Cancer
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language:en
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Short-container-title:npj Breast Cancer
Author:
Leduc Sophia, De Schepper MaximORCID, Richard FrançoisORCID, Maetens Marion, Pabba Anirudh, Borremans KristienORCID, Jaekers Joris, Latacz EmilyORCID, Zels Gitte, Bohlok AliORCID, Van Baelen KarenORCID, Nguyen Ha Linh, Geukens Tatjana, Dirix Luc, Larsimont Denis, Vankerckhove Sophie, Santos Eva, Oliveira Rui Caetano, Dede Kristòf, Kulka Janina, Borbala Székely, Salamon Ferenc, Madaras Lilla, Marcell Szasz A., Lucidi Valerio, Meyer Yannick, Topal BakiORCID, Verhoef Cornelis, Engstrand Jennie, Moro Carlos FernandezORCID, Gerling Marco, Bachir Imane, Biganzoli EliaORCID, Donckier VincentORCID, Floris GiuseppeORCID, Vermeulen Peter, Desmedt ChristineORCID
Abstract
AbstractLiver is the third most common organ for breast cancer (BC) metastasis. Two main histopathological growth patterns (HGP) exist in liver metastases (LM): desmoplastic and replacement. Although a reduced immunotherapy efficacy is reported in patients with LM, tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) have not yet been investigated in BCLM. Here, we evaluate the distribution of the HGP and TIL in BCLM, and their association with clinicopathological variables and survival. We collect samples from surgically resected BCLM (n = 133 patients, 568 H&E sections) and post-mortem derived BCLM (n = 23 patients, 97 H&E sections). HGP is assessed as the proportion of tumor liver interface and categorized as pure-replacement (‘pure r-HGP’) or any-desmoplastic (‘any d-HGP’). We score the TIL according to LM-specific guidelines. Associations with progression-free (PFS) and overall survival (OS) are assessed using Cox regressions. We observe a higher prevalence of ‘any d-HGP’ (56%) in the surgical samples and a higher prevalence of ‘pure r-HGP’ (83%) in the post-mortem samples. In the surgical cohort, no evidence of the association between HGP and clinicopathological characteristics is observed except with the laterality of the primary tumor (p value = 0.049) and the systemic preoperative treatment before liver surgery (p value = .039). TIL is less prevalent in ‘pure r-HGP’ as compared to ‘any d-HGP’ (p value = 0.001). ‘Pure r-HGP’ predicts worse PFS (HR: 2.65; CI: (1.45–4.82); p value = 0.001) and OS (HR: 3.10; CI: (1.29–7.46); p value = 0.011) in the multivariable analyses. To conclude, we demonstrate that BCLM with a ‘pure r-HGP’ is associated with less TIL and with the worse outcome when compared with BCLM with ‘any d-HGP’. These findings suggest that HGP could be considered to refine treatment approaches.
Funder
Stichting Tegen Kanker JE has been supported by Region Stockholm and the Bengt Ihre Foundation Svenska Sällskapet för Medicinsk Forskning
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Subject
Pharmacology (medical),Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and imaging,Oncology
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