The increased number of CD163-positive TAMs in tumor nest and tumor stromal was positively associated with Kazakh ESCC lymph node metastasis and clinical stage progression.
Increased densities of CD68-, CD163-, and CD204-positive TAMs were significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis (P = .035, .0082, and .038, respectively).
Notably, a high index of CD163+ macrophages was significantly associated with higher FIGO stages (<i>p</i> = 0.009) and lymph node metastasis (<i>p</i> = 0.012), but a similar finding was not found for CD68+ macrophages (<i>p</i> = 0.067, <i>p</i> = 0.079, respectively).
To begin with, immunohistochemistry was performed to detect the expression of CD163, one typical surface marker of M2 macrophages in 90 paired ESCC and its normal controls after meta-analyzing the relevant studies regarding M2 macrophages in ESCC, confirming that infiltration of M2 macrophages was significantly linked with lymph node metastasis, T classification, and inferior overall survival of ESCC.
High activation of CAFs was positively correlated with elevated infiltration of polarized CD163-positive TAMs and lymph node metastasis in TNBC patients.