Figure 2.

Macrophage morphology is a prognostic factor in human CLMs. (A) Representative whole-slide immunohistochemistry of CD163⁺ cells in a CLM specimen. Area and perimeter of macrophages were quantitated in three non-contiguous areas of the PT region (red line) and IM (black line) of curatively resected metastases from 101 metastatic CRC patients. Scale bar: 2 mm. (B) Kaplan-Meier curve of CD163⁺ macrophages in 95 CLM specimens. Represented are mean ± SEM of three pictures from each specimen (P = not significant [ns] by log-rank Mantel–Cox test). (C) ROC curves for density, area, and perimeter of CD163⁺ macrophages to predict disease recurrence in CLM patients. P = ns (density); **, P = 0.006 (area); P = ns (perimeter). AUC, area under the curve. (D) Kaplan-Meier curve of macrophage area in 101 CLM specimens (S-TAM = average area below ROC cutoff value; L-TAM = average area above ROC cutoff value; represented are mean ± SEM of three pictures from each specimen; ***, P < 0.0001 by log-rank Mantel–Cox test). (E) Forest plot showing the results of multivariate regression analysis for DFS in 101 CLM patients. The x axis represents the HR for recurrence with the reference line (dashed), HRs (circles), and 95% CI (whiskers). ***, P < 0.001 by multiple regression analysis. Liver involvement: bilateral versus unilateral. Time of diagnosis: synchronous versus metachronous. N (node) and T (tumor) refer to the primary tumor. CEA, carcinoembryonic antigen. CTX, chemotherapy.