Figure 1.

M2 macrophage infiltration and IL‐33 production are enhanced with close correlation in oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). A, Representative images of IL‐33⁺ cell, CD206⁺ cell and CD68⁺ cell in non‐tumour and tumour tissue (scale bar = 50 μm). B, Western blot analysis of IL‐33 and CD206 expression in non‐tumour and tumour tissues, and GAPDH was used as a reference control. C, IL‐33, CD206 and CD68 were measured by RT‐PCR in non‐tumour and tumour tissues; the correlation of CD206 and IL‐33 in ESCC tissues; N = 20, R ² = .54, P < .01. D, M1 (CD68⁺ CCR2⁺) and M2 (CD206⁺ CX3CR1⁺) populations in peripheral blood from those with ESCC (n = 48) and healthy controls (n = 33), as measured by flow cytometry. The difference in M1/M2 ratio between two groups was analysed. E, The population of M2‐like macrophages subset in peripheral blood between ESCC patients and healthy controls showed significant difference instead of M1‐like macrophages. F, ROC curve was used to analyse to assess the diagnostic value in ESCC. **P < .01; ***P < .001. Bars indicate mean and SEM of triplicate experiments and show a representative experiment of at least 3 independent experiments performed for each panel