Reading the article further FOXP3 activity was postively correlated with her2 neu positivity
1: J Clin Oncol. 2006 Dec 1;24(34):5373-80. Links
Comment in:
J Clin Oncol. 2007 Aug 10;25(23):e29; author reply e30.
J Clin Oncol. 2007 Oct 1;25(28):4499-500; author reply 4500-1.
Quantification of regulatory T cells enables the identification of high-risk breast cancer patients and those at risk of late relapse.
Bates GJ, Fox SB, Han C, Leek RD, Garcia JF, Harris AL, Banham AH.
Nuffield Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, John Radcliffe Hospital; Cancer Research UK Molecular Oncology Laboratory, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
gaynor.bates@ndcls.ox.ac.uk
PURPOSE: To assess the clinical significance of tumor-infiltrating FOXP3-positive regulatory T cells (TR) in breast cancer patients with long-term follow-up. PATIENTS AND METHODS: FOXP3-positive TR were detected by immunohistochemistry with our new, extensively characterized FOXP3 monoclonal antibody, 236A/E7. Numbers of FOXP3-positive lymphocytes in tissue microarray cores from pure ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS; n = 62), invasive breast cancer (n = 237) or from comparable areas of normal terminal duct lobular breast tissue (n = 10) were determined. A median cutoff of > or = 15 defined patients with high numbers of TR. RESULTS: TR numbers were significantly higher in in situ and invasive breast carcinomas than in normal breast; invasive tumors have significantly higher numbers than DCIS (P = .001). High numbers of FOXP3-positive TR identified patients with DCIS at increased risk of relapse (P = .04) and patients with invasive tumors with both shorter relapse-free (P = .004) and overall survival (P = .007). High TR numbers were present in high-grade tumors (P < or = .001), in patients with lymph node involvement (P = .01), and in estrogen receptor (ER) -negative tumors (P = .001). Importantly, high numbers of TR within ER-positive tumors identified high-risk patients (P = .005). Unlike conventional clinicopathologic factors, high numbers of FOXP3-positive TR can identify patients at risk of relapse after 5 years. CONCLUSION: These findings indicate that quantification of FOXP3-positive TR in breast tumors is valuable for assessing disease prognosis and progression, and that TR are an important therapeutic target for breast cancer. FOXP3-positive TR represent a novel marker for identifying late-relapse patients who may benefit from aromatase therapy after standard tamoxifen treatment.
PMID: 17135638 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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