Tumour-draining axillary lymph nodes in patients with large and locally advanced breast cancers undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC): the crucial contribution of immune cells (effector, regulatory) and cytokines (Th1, Th2) to immune-mediated tumour cell death induced by NAC

Table 2 High Levels of T Effector (CD4⁺, CD8⁺) and CD56⁺ NK Cells in Pre-NAC ^(a) ALN^(b) Metastatic Tumours: Association with a PCR Following NAC

Lymphocyte Subsets (n = 20)	Groups	Tumour Infiltration Median (range)^(c)	P Value^(d)(PCR Versus Non PCR)
CD4⁺	Pathological Complete Response (PCR, n = 9)	65.0 (19.4-157.4)	0.004^e
CD4⁺	Non Pathological Complete Response (Non PCR, n = 11)	13.2 (0.6-100.8)	0.004^e
CD8⁺	Pathological Complete Response (PCR, n = 9)	99.2 (33.2-160.8)	0.001^e
CD8⁺	Non Pathological Complete Response (Non PCR, n = 11)	11.6 (0.4-93.0)	0.001^e
FOXP3⁺	Pathological Complete Response (PCR, n = 9)	18.0 (5.0-73.6)	0.152
FOXP3⁺	Non Pathological Complete Response (Non PCR, n = 11)	6.4 (1.0-20.4)	0.152
CTLA-4⁺	Pathological Complete Response (PCR, n = 9)	2.6 (0.4-11.6)	0.112
CTLA-4⁺	Non Pathological Complete Response (Non PCR, n = 11)	0.8 (0.0-2.2)	0.112
CD56⁺	Pathological Complete Response (PCR, n = 9)	2.2 (1.0-26.8)	0.010^e
CD56⁺	Non Pathological Complete Response (Non PCR, n = 11)	1.0 (0.0-2.2)	0.010^e

^(a)NAC: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy; ^(b) ALN: Axillary lymph node; ^(c) Average cell count per 400× high-power field (see Materials and Methods); ^(d) Mann-Whitney U test; ^e Statistically significant