Abstract:
Tumor-associated Macrophages in Esophageal Carcinoma and Its Impact on PrognosisRuiling XIE1, Bosheng DONG2, Hui PANG1, Yuan CHENG1, Ke SHANG1, Xingya LI1Correspondence to: Xingya LI, E-mail: zlzjonline@yahoo.com.cn1Department of Oncology, First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, China2Department of Oncology, Zhoukou Central Hospital, Zhoukou 466000, ChinaAbstract Objective: To investigate the infiltration of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) in the tissue of esophageal carcino-ma and its impact on patient prognosis. Methods: Immunohistochemistry was used to investigate the infiltration of TAMs expressingCD68 in esophageal carcinoma tissue and adjacent normal tissue. The density of macrophage infiltration between the esophageal carci-noma and the adjacent normal tissue was compared, and the density and distribution of macrophage infiltration in the esophageal carci-noma tissue was analyzed to find its impact on patient survival. Results: The mean density of TAMs infiltrating esophageal carcinomatissue was significantly higher than that in normal adjacent tissue ( P < 0.05). Compared with patients with a low density of TAMs instroma and cancerous tissue, the patients with a high density of TAMs had a shorter five-year survival rate ( P < 0.05 ). The five-yearsurvival rate for patients with a low density of TAMs in stroma was much shorter than that for the patients who have a low density ofTAMs in the same tissue ( P < 0.05 ). The five-year survival rate was longer for the patients with a low density of TAMs in the cancernest than in patients with a high density of TAMs in the cancer nest ( P < 0.05 ). The infiltration density of TAMs in the cancer stromaand nest was negatively correlated with patient survival ( P < 0.05 ). The infiltration of TAMs in stroma and cancer nest was indepen-dent prognostic factors affecting the patient survival ( P < 0.05 ). Conclusion: There is a higher density of TAMs in esophageal carcino-ma than in normal esophageal tissue. The degree of TAM infiltration in different parts of esophageal carcinoma is correlated with pa-tient survival and prognosis.