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Tumor-associated macrophages infiltration is associated with peritumoral lymphangiogenesis and poor prognosis in lung adenocarcinoma

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Abstract

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) have been implicated in promoting tumor progression. Nowadays, adenocarcinoma has surpassed squamous cell carcinoma as the most frequent type of lung cancer, but in lung adenocarcinoma, the correlation of TAMs with lymphangiogenesis patients remains unclear. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between TAMs and lymphangiogenesis and the lung adenocarcinoma patients’ prognosis. Tumor specimens from 65 patients with lung adenocarcinoma were determined for TAMs count and lymphatic microvessel density (LMVD) by immunohistochemistry. A positive correlation existed between TAMs count and D2-40-positive peritumoral LMVD (r = 0.069, P < 0.001). TAMs infiltration was significantly associated with P-TNM staging (P = 0.042) and lymph node metastasis (P = 0.037), and peritumoral LMVD was correlated with lymph node metastasis (P = 0.003). A significant difference in overall survival was detected not only between tumors with a high TAMs count and a low TAMs count (P = 0.009) but also between tumors with a high peritumoral LMVD and a low peritumoral LMVD (P = 0.005). Both TAMs count and peritumoral LMVD were independent prognostic factors for overall survival. Our results indicate that TAMs infiltration correlates with tumor lymphangiogenesis and poor survival in lung adenocarcinoma.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Shousong Chen (Department of Pathology, Wuhan General Hospital of Guangzhou Command, People’s Liberation Army, Wuhan, China) for her excellent technical assistance. This study was supported by Medical Scientific Research Foundation of Hubei Province, China (Number: JX3B37).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Oncology, Wuhan General Hospital of Guangzhou Command, People’s Liberation Army, 430070, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China

    Bi Cheng Zhang, Zhi Guo Rao & Jian Fei Gao

  2. Department of Digestive Diseases, Wuhan General Hospital of Guangzhou Command, People’s Liberation Army, 430070, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China

    Juan Gao

  3. Department of Oncology, General Hospital of Jinan Command, People’s Liberation Army, 250031, Jinan, Shandong Province, China

    Jun Wang & Bao Cheng Wang

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  1. Bi Cheng Zhang
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  2. Juan Gao
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  3. Jun Wang
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  4. Zhi Guo Rao
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  5. Bao Cheng Wang
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  6. Jian Fei Gao
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jian Fei Gao.

Additional information

B. C. Zhang and J. Gao contributed equally to this study.

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Zhang, B.C., Gao, J., Wang, J. et al. Tumor-associated macrophages infiltration is associated with peritumoral lymphangiogenesis and poor prognosis in lung adenocarcinoma. Med Oncol 28, 1447–1452 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12032-010-9638-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12032-010-9638-5

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