Understanding survival in breast carcinoma: The role of chemokine associated receptors

Identifier:  TFG:112

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/TFG112

Authors:  Iglesias Carres, Lisard.

Abstract:
Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world. Chemokine (CC-motif) ligand 2 (CCL2) is an inflammatory chemokine highly expressed in the tumour micronvironment and has been correlated with adverse prognosis in breast cancer patients. CCL2 exerts its biological function by binding to CCR2, but its signalling can be attenuated by decoy receptors like Duffy Antigen Receptor for Chemokines (DARC) and D6. Indeed, CCL2 mediates the migration of macrophages to tumour sites, which promotes a tumourgenic microenvironment. Although there is emerging support for a tumour promoting role of CCL2 in breast cancer, further research is needed before CCL2 can be established as a prognostic factor and/or treatment target in breast cancer. This study aimed to understand the interactions between the chemokines involved in the development of invasive ductal breast carcinoma and to find associations between their expression and different patient outcomes. To do so, histological cuts from 286 women suffering from this type of cancer were evaluated by immunochemical staining in different protein levels related to the CCL2 network. Specifically, the proteins subjected to be studied were CCL2, CCR2, DARC, D6, IL-10 and CD68. This study has shown that there is no association between CCL2 and adverse patient outcome. Furthermore, macrophage infiltration, evaluated by CD68 immunostaining, did not correlate wit any patient outcome. More importantly, D6 and CCR2 have been shown to have potential value as breast cancer predictor factors for developing a secondary neoplasia and survival respectively. Hence, further studies are needed to validate D6 and CCR2 as predictor factors and to better understand the interactions between the proteins of the CCL2 network.