Epithelial-to-mesenchymal Transition Heterogeneity of Circulating Tumor Cells and Their Correlation With MDSCs and Tregs in HER2-negative Metastatic Breast Cancer Patients

MARIA A. PAPADAKI; DESPOINA AGGOURAKI; ELENI-KYRIAKI VETSIKA; NIKOLAOS XENIDIS; GALAKTEA KALLERGI; ATHANASIOS KOTSAKIS; VASSILIS GEORGOULIAS

doi:10.21873/anticanres.14817

Article Figures & Data

Figures

Tables

Download figure
Open in new tab
Download powerpoint
Figure 1.
Incidence of circulating immunosuppressive cells among mBC patients (n=38) and healthy volunteers (normal controls, NC; n=16). (A) Percentage of CD14⁺CD15⁺ M-MDSCs and CD14⁺CD15⁻ M-MDSCs and CD14⁻CD15⁺ G-MDSCs. (B) Percentage of CD3⁺CD4⁺CD25^high Tregs and CD3⁺CD4⁺CD25^highFoxP3⁺ Tregs. The bars denote mean values±SEM and the p-values are determined by the Mann Whitney U-test.
Download figure
Open in new tab
Download powerpoint
Figure 2.
ROS production and iNOS expression in different MDSCs’ subtypes. Percentages of (A) ROS-producing and (C) iNOS-expressing cells from normal donors (n=13) and mBC patients (n=38). Intracellular levels of (B) ROS and (D) iNOS in all tested subpopulations. Intracellular ROS levels are expressed as mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) in subpopulations of MDSCs before and after PMA stimulation. The data are represented as the mean±SEM and the p-values are determined by the Mann-Whitney U-test. ND: Normal donors.
Download figure
Open in new tab
Download powerpoint
Figure 3.
Correlation between immunosuppressive cells and CTCs with distinct CSC and EMT phenotypes in mBC patients (n=38). Evaluation of the percentage of different immunosuppressive cell populations in the presence and absence of CTCs and within different CTC subpopulations. (A) Percentage of CD3⁺CD4⁺CD25^high Tregs among CTC-positive and CTC-negative patients; (B) Percentage of CD14⁺CD15⁺ M-MDSCs among patients with and without CSC/partial-EMT CTCs; (C) Percentage of CD14⁺CD15^– M-MDSCs and CD3⁺CD4⁺CD25^high Tregs among patients with and without detectable non-CSC/epithelial CTCs. p-Values are determined by the Mann-Whitney U-test.