Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Feb;22(1):e11-9.
doi: 10.3747/co.22.2150.

Distribution and clinical significance of tumour-associated macrophages in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: a retrospective analysis in China

S J Chen  1 , Q B Zhang  2 , L J Zeng  3 , G D Lian  1 , J J Li  1 , C C Qian  1 , Y Z Chen  1 , Y T Chen  1 , K H Huang  1
Affiliations

Distribution and clinical significance of tumour-associated macrophages in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: a retrospective analysis in China

S J Chen et al. Curr Oncol. 2015 Feb.

Abstract

Background: We aimed to characterize the localization and prognostic significance of tumour-associated macrophages (tams) in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (pdac).

Methods: Tumour specimens from 70 patients with pdac and inflammatory specimens from 13 patients with chronic pancreatitis were collected and analyzed for tam and M2 macrophage counts by immunohistochemistry. Correlations between tam distributions and clinicopathologic features were determined.

Results: Immunohistochemical analysis showed that tam and M2 macrophage counts were higher in tissues from pdac than from chronic pancreatitis. The tams and M2 macrophages both infiltrated more into peritumour. Both macrophage types were positively associated with lymph node metastasis (p = 0.041 for tams in peritumour, p = 0.013 for M2 macrophages in introtumour, p = 0.006 for M2 macrophage in peritumour). In addition, abdominal pain was significantly more frequent in pdac patients with a greater tams count. The survival rate was much lower in patients having high infiltration by M2 macrophages than in those having low infiltration.

Conclusions: The tam count might be associated with neural invasion in pdac, and M2 macrophages might play an important role in lymph node metastasis. Higher counts of either macrophage type were associated with increased risk of lymph node metastasis, and the M2 macrophage count could potentially be a marker for evaluating prognosis.

Keywords: Pancreatic cancer; lymph node metastasis; neural invasion; tumour-associated macrophages.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Immunohistochemical analysis of CD68- and CD163-positive macrophages in specimens of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. (A) High expression of CD68 and (B) high expression of CD163 in a single section. (C) Low expression of CD68 and (D) low expression of CD163 in a single section. (E) The dotted line shows the boundary between the adenocarcinoma and adjacent noncancerous tissue (hematoxylin and eosin stain). All images, 100× original magnification.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Immunohistochemical analysis of CD68- and CD163-positive macrophages in specimens of chronic pancreatitis. (A) High expression of CD68 and (B) high expression of CD163 in a single section. (C) Low expression of CD68 and (D) low expression of CD163 in a single section. (E) The dotted line roughly shows the boundary between dense and relatively less-dense fibrotic lesion (hematoxylin and eosin stain). All images, 100× original magnification.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Statistical analysis of the immunohistochemistry results for CD68 and CD163. Immunopositivity for (A) CD68 and (B) CD163 was significantly higher in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (pdca) than in chronic pancreatitis (cp).
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Kaplan–Meier survival curves classified by the number of CD163-positive macrophages found (A) centrally and (B) peripherally in the studied lesions. The count of positive macrophages in the peripheral area was better than the count in the central area for dividing patients into prognostic groups.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Raraty MG, Magee CJ, Ghaneh P, Neoptolemos JP. New techniques and agents in the adjuvant therapy of pancreatic cancer. Acta Oncol. 2002;41:582–95. doi: 10.1080/028418602321028184. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Beger HG, Rau B, Gansauge F, Poch B, Link KH. Treatment of pancreatic cancer: challenge of the facts. World J Surg. 2003;27:1075–84. doi: 10.1007/s00268-003-7165-7. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Niederhuber JE, Brennan MF, Menck HR. The national cancer data base report on pancreatic cancer. Cancer. 1995;76:1671–7. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(19951101)76:9<1671::AID-CNCR2820760926>3.0.CO;2-R. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Lowenfels AB, Maisonneuve P, Cavallini G, et al. Pancreatitis and the risk of pancreatic cancer. International Pancreatitis Study Group. N Engl J Med. 1993;328:1433–7. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199305203282001. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Gress TM, Wallrapp C, Frohme M, et al. Identification of genes with specific expression in pancreatic cancer by cdna representational difference analysis. Genes Chromosomes Cancer. 1997;19:97–103. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1098-2264(199706)19:2<97::AID-GCC5>3.0.CO;2-V. - DOI - PubMed