Review Article
Mast Cell, the Neglected Member of the Tumor Microenvironment: Role in Breast Cancer
Table 1
Studies analyzing the participation of mast cells in breast cancer.
| Study type | BC specimen | MC detection method | Prognosis in BC | Association | Ref. |
| D/C/E | Tumor tissue and blood xenotransplanted mice | Tryptase | Positive | Decreased blood clotting and hypoxia | [94] | D/C | Tumor tissue | c-kit (CD117) | Positive | Greater survival | [95] | D/C | Tumor tissue from IDC | c-kit (CD117) | Positive | Greater survival | [87] | D/C | Tumor tissue | Giemsa and Alcian blue | Positive | BC subtype | [88] | D/C | Lymph nodes | Toluidine blue | Positive | Greater survival | [91] | D/C | Tumor tissue from IDC | Tryptase and chymase | Positive | BC subtypes | [89] | D/C | Sentinel lymph nodes | Tryptase | Negative | Angiogenesis and micrometastasis | [90] | D/C | Tumor tissue | Tryptase | Negative | Angiogenesis | [92] | D/C | Tumor tissue and sera to measure tryptase levels | Tryptase | Negative | Angiogenesis | [93] | D/C | Tumor tissue and lymph nodes from IDC patients | Toluidine blue | Negative | Angiogenesis | [98] | D/C | Tumor tissue from IDC | Toluidine blue | Negative | BC grade | [99] | D/C/E | Benign growths and tumor tissues Cell line treated with tryptase | Tryptase | Negative | BC grade and metastasis | [104] | E | Mast cell-deficient BC-prone mice | Toluidine blue | Negative | Progression, metastasis, and angiogenesis | [105] | C/E | Tumor tissue from cimetidine treated patients | Toluidine blue | None | None | [111] |
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BC: breast cancer; IDC: invasive ductal carcinoma; D: descriptive study; C: correlative; E: experimentally tested; positive: antitumoral role; negative: protumoral role. Studies also performed in mice. |