Correlation between Tumour Associated Macrophage (TAM) Infiltration and Mitotic Activity in Canine Soft Tissue Sarcomas.

Tumour-associated macrophages (TAMs) are an important part of the tumour microenvironment but knowledge of their distribution in canine soft tissue sarcomas (STSs) is limited to absent. We analysed 38 STSs retrieved from the veterinary pathology archive; oral and visceral STSs, synovial cell sarcoma, tumours of histiocytic origin, haemangiosarcoma, carcinosarcomas, and undifferentiated tumours were excluded. Iba-1 positive, non-neoplastic tumour infiltrating cells (morphologically indicative of macrophages) were classified as TAMs and were counted in 10 consecutive tumours areas, where no necrosis or other inflammatory cells could be identified.