Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Types of immune cells in dog mammary cancer tumors and what they mean
By Parisi, Francesca et al.·Published in Research in veterinary science·2021·Department of Animal Pathology, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: M1 and M2 tumour-associated macrophages subsets in canine malignant mammary tumours: An immunohistochemical study.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study looked at 60 dogs with malignant mammary tumors, which are cancerous growths in the breast area. Researchers found that tumors with a specific type of immune cell response (M2-polarized tumor-associated macrophages) were linked to worse outcomes. Dogs with these M2 cells had a median survival time of only about 449 days, while those with a different immune response (M1-polarized) lived much longer, around 1209 days. This suggests that the presence of M2 cells could indicate a more aggressive cancer and may help veterinarians predict how the disease will progress.
People also search for: dog mammary tumor prognosis · canine breast cancer survival rate · M2 macrophages in dog tumors
Abstract
Among the innate and adaptative immune cells recruited to the tumour site, tumour associated macrophages (TAMs) are particularly abundant and by simplified classification can be classified into (M1) and (M2) TAMs. In the present study, we quantified by immunohistochemistry ionized calcium binding adaptor molecule 1 (Iba1)-positive total and CD204-positive M2-polarized TAMs in 60 canine malignant mammary tumours (CMMTs) to analyze the relationship between M1 or M2 response and the histopathologic features of examined CMMTs, the dogs' body condition score (BCS) and the progression of the neoplastic disease. The mean number of total and CD204+ TAMS were significantly higher in solid and in grade III than in grades I and II carcinomas. Moreover, the mean number of CD204-positive TAMs was significantly higher in CMMTs with lymphatic invasion and necrosis rather than CMMTs without. The presence of higher number of CD204-positive M2-polarized TAMs was associated with a worst outcome of the neoplastic disease: bitches bearing CMMTs with a prevalent M2-polarized TAM response had a median cancer-specific survival time of 449 days, while in animals with a M1-polarized TAM response the median cancer-specific survival time was 1209 days. The results of our study confirm that in CMMTs the presence of a M2-polarized TAMs response might affect the tumour development and behaviour. Finally, it strongly suggests the potential of CD204 expression as a prognostic factor.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33582312/