Table 5.
Representative studies demonstrating the association of TAMs with tumor progression parameters in ovarian cancer.
| Cohort of patients | Method of detection | TAM correlation with tumor growth and stage | TAM correlation with lymphatic and hematogenous metastasis | TAM correlation with survival | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 332 HGSOC patients (UK) | IHC in TMA (digital imaging scanning) | Not studied | Not studied | High amount of stromal CD68+ TAMs is associated with increased OS rate by 15% | (207) |
| 112 ovarian cancer patients (China) | IHC (manually) | 1.6–2.0-fold increase of CD68+ and CD163+ TAM densities is found in tumors with grade G3 vs. grade G1. Decrease in M1/M2 TAM ratio is observed from stage I (1.4 ± 0.5 cells/mm2) to stage IV (1.0 ± 0.5) | Not studied | Increase of overall M1/M2 ratio above the mean 1.731 is associated with increased 5-year OS by 19.7% | (208) |
| 110 EOC patients (China) | IHC (manually) | 1.7-fold increase of CD163+ TAM amount is found in tumors with grade 2–3 (median = 79 cells) compared to grade 1 (median = 47 cells) | Not studied | Increase of CD163+ TAM amount above the median (76 cells per ×400 HPF) correlates with decreased PFS rate by 25.7% and OS rate by 26.9% | (209) |
| 140 ovarian cancer patients (Italy) | Flow cytometry | Not studied | Not studied | High M1/M2 ratio (defined as 1.4) is associated with prolonged OS by 16 months, and PFS – by 15 months compared to low M1/M2 ratio (< 1.4). | (210) |
| 199 HGSOC patients (Canada) | IHC of TMA (digital imaging scanning) | Not studied | Not studied | Increased CD206+/CD68+ ratio correlates with decreased OS and PFS rates by 40% | (58) |
DFS, disease-specific survival; DSS, disease-free survival; HPF, high-power field; IF, immunofluorescence; HGSOC, high-grade serous ovarian cancer; IHC, immunohistochemistry; LN, lymph node; TAMs, tumor-associated macrophages; OS, overall survival; RFS, recurrence-free survival; TMA, tissue microarray.