Adipocyte heterogeneity and tumor infiltration of adipose tissue in patients with metastatic breast cancer.

Background: The adipose tissue may serve as a source of energy supporting cancer growth and metastasis. Our understanding of the adipocytes which compose the adipose tissue in different anatomical locations of the body as well as potential microscopic tumor infiltration in patients with metastatic breast cancer remains limited. This study therefore investigates regional variations in adipocyte size and adipose tissue tumor infiltration in patients with metastatic breast cancer.

Stromal Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes in Hormone Receptor-Positive/HER2 Negative Metastatic Breast Cancer.

The immune landscape of hormone receptor-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative metastatic breast cancer (HR+/HER2- mBC), the most common subtype of BC, remains understudied. This is mainly because of reduced sample acquisition opportunities from metastases as compared with primary tumors. In this study, we explored stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (sTIL) in metastatic samples collected through our post-mortem tissue donation program UZ/KU Leuven Post-mortem Tissue Donation program to Enhance Research (NCT04531696).

Dissecting the immune infiltrate of primary luminal B-like breast carcinomas in relation to age.

The impact of aging on the immune landscape of luminal breast cancer (Lum-BC) is poorly characterized. Understanding the age-related dynamics of immune editing in Lum-BC is anticipated to improve the therapeutic benefit of immunotherapy in older patients. To this end, here we applied the 'multiple iterative labeling by antibody neo-deposition' (MILAN) technique, a spatially resolved single-cell multiplex immunohistochemistry method.

Reporting on patient's body mass index (BMI) in recent clinical trials for patients with breast cancer: a systematic review.

Background: The proportion of patients with breast cancer and obesity is increasing. While the therapeutic landscape of breast cancer has been expanding, we lack knowledge about the potential differential efficacy of most drugs according to the body mass index (BMI). Here, we conducted a systematic review on recent clinical drug trials to document the dosing regimen of recent drugs, the reporting of BMI and the possible exclusion of patients according to BMI, other adiposity measurements and/or diabetes (leading comorbidity of obesity).

Rapid autopsies to enhance metastatic research: the UPTIDER post-mortem tissue donation program.

Research on metastatic cancer has been hampered by limited sample availability. Here we present the breast cancer post-mortem tissue donation program UPTIDER and show how it enabled sampling of a median of 31 (range: 5-90) metastases and 5-8 liquids per patient from its first 20 patients. In a dedicated experiment, we show the mild impact of increasing time after death on RNA quality, transcriptional profiles and immunohistochemical staining in tumor tissue samples.