Abstract

Accumulating evidence has indicated that immune regulatory cells are involved in the establishment of the anti-tumor activity, however; the role of regulatory B cells (B-regs) in breast cancer (BC) remains unclear. This study intended to assess the frequency of peripheral B-regs phenotypes in patients with BC, and to determine the relation between these phenotypes and the patient’s clinicopathological characters. The expressions of the immune cell populations were analyzed by four-color flow cytometry in 40 naïve BC patients and 10 age-matched apparently healthy individuals as controls attending the department of Clinical Oncology and Nuclear Medicine at Assiut University Hospitals. The percentages of B-regs phenotypes CD19⁺IL10⁺ and CD19⁺CD24^hiCD27⁺IL10⁺ were higher in BC patients than in the controls. The percentage of CD19⁺IL10⁺ B cells phenotype was significantly associated with the HER-2 expression levels, T, and N stages of BC. In conclusion, high percentage of B-regs phenotypes CD19⁺IL10⁺ and CD19⁺CD24^hiCD27⁺IL10⁺ in BC patients indicates a possible role in immune suppression during the development of BC.

Keywords: Breast cancer; Clinicopathological characteristics; regulatory B cell; interleukin-10.

Date received: 23 January 2021; accepted: 22 April 2021

PMID: 34147050