Figure 6.

Pesticide-induced immune deregulation may worsen the prognosis in women with breast cancer from the intermediate risk of death and recurrence. Women diagnosed with breast cancer occupationally exposed to pesticides exhibit several significant alterations in the tumor microenvironment, affecting its immunosurveillance. Decreased TCD8+ lymphocyte infiltrate and increased expression of negative regulators of tumor-driven immune responses such as TGF-β and CTLA-4 are found in tumors from pesticide-exposed women compared to the unexposed ones. In addition, reduced levels of circulating interleukin 12 are reported, reducing the anti-tumor arsenal of pesticide-exposed women. This immunocompromised scenario may result in a worse clinical prognosis since women from the exposed group have more metastasis than the unexposed ones.