Takayuki Iwamoto
   Department   Kawasaki Medical School  Kawasaki Medical School, Department of Breast and Thyroid Surgery,
   Position   Assistant Professor
Article types 原著
Language English
Peer review Peer reviewed
Title Expression of hormone receptors is associated with specific immunological profiles of the breast cancer microenvironment.
Journal Formal name:Breast cancer research : BCR
Abbreviation:Breast Cancer Res
ISSN code:1465542X/14655411
Domestic / ForeginForegin
Volume, Issue, Page 25(1),pp.13
Author and coauthor Toru Hanamura, Shigehisa Kitano, Hiroshi Kagamu, Makiko Yamashita, Mayako Terao, Takuho Okamura, Nobue Kumaki, Katsuto Hozumi, Takayuki Iwamoto, Chikako Honda, Sasagu Kurozumi, Naoki Niikura
Publication date 2023/01
Summary BACKGROUND:Elucidating the unique immunoregulatory mechanisms in breast cancer microenvironment may help develop new therapeutic strategies. Some studies have suggested that hormone receptors also have immune regulatory functions, but their mechanisms are not fully understood. In this study, we have comprehensively analyzed the relationship between the expressions of estrogen (ER), progesterone (PgR), and androgen receptors (AR), and the immunological profile in breast cancer.METHODS:Using publicly available gene expression profile datasets, METABRIC and SCAN-B, the associations between the expressions of hormone receptors and the immune cell compositions in breast cancer tissue, estimated by CIBERSORTx algorithm, were analyzed. We histologically evaluated tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (hTIL), PD-L1 (hPD-L1) expression, and the infiltration of 11 types of immune cells by flow cytometry (FCM) for 45 breast cancer tissue samples. The relationships between them and the expressions of ER, PgR, and AR of tumor tissues, evaluated immunohistochemically, were analyzed.RESULTS:Expressions of ESR1, PGR, and AR were negatively correlated with overall immune composition. Expressions of ER and AR, but not that of PgR, were inversely associated with hTIL and hPD-L1 expression. FCM analysis showed that the expressions of ER and AR, but not that of PgR, were associated with decreased total leukocyte infiltration. Both CIBERSORTx and FCM analysis showed that ER expression was associated with reduced infiltration of macrophages and CD4+ T cells and that of AR with reduced macrophage infiltration.CONCLUSION:Hormone receptor expression correlates with specific immunological profiles in the breast cancer microenvironment both at the gene and protein expression levels.
DOI 10.1186/s13058-023-01606-7
PMID 36721218