Skip to main content
Fig. 5 | BMC Cancer

Fig. 5

From: Macrophage traits in cancer cells are induced by macrophage-cancer cell fusion and cannot be explained by cellular interaction

Fig. 5

Immunostaining of breast cancer tissue sections. Serial breast tumor sections of 5 μm were stained with macrophage-specific antigen CD163 (Novocastra CD163, clone 10D6, mouse anti-human monoclonal antibody). (a) The histological picture of breast cancer (magnification of × 200). CD163-positive cells were pleomorphic with large nuclei and showed considerable heterogeneity in the distribution of CD 163 expression in different regions of the same section and in the same tumor specimens. CD163-positive cancer cells were organized in a growth pattern of clonal collections (red arrow). CD163-negative cancer cells (blue arrow) show similar morphological pattern but different phenotype (lacking macrophage phenotype). CD163 positive cancer cells can be distinguished morphologically from tumor associated macrophages. (red interrupted arrow) Note that macrophage nuclei are small and regular, whereas the cancer cells are enlarged and atypical with pleomorphic nuclei. and decreased cytoplasmic - nuclear ratio. (b) CD163 was expressed in 57 % of breast tumors. The proportion of CD163-positive cancer cells was greater than 50 % in 34 (47 %) of total 72 positive tumors

Back to article page