Review Article


Tumor-associated neutrophils (TANs) as prognostic markers in colorectal cancer: A brief review

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1 Associate Professor, Department of Human Pathology in Adult and Developmental Age “Gaetano Barresi”, University of Messina, Messina, Italy

2 MD, Integrated Cancer Registry of Oriental Sicily, Catania, Italy

3 MD, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry “Scuola Medica Salernitana”, University of Salerno, Italy

Address correspondence to:

Rosario Caruso

Policlinico Universitario, via Consolare Valeria 1, I-98125 Messina,

Italy

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Article ID: 100040Z11RC2020

doi: 10.5348/100040Z11RC2020RV

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How to cite this article

Caruso R, Irato E, Aliberti SM, Capunzo M, Rigoli L. Tumor-associated neutrophils (TANs) as prognostic markers in colorectal cancer: A brief review. J Case Rep Images Pathol 2020;6:100040Z11RC2020.

ABSTRACT


Neutrophils are cell protagonists of innate immunity, frequently found in the tumor microenvironment and associated with higher tumor stage and adverse prognosis of patients, especially in hepatocellular, renal cell, pancreatic ductal, and non-small cell carcinomas. The aim of the present review is a systematic appraisal of current literature to examine the prognostic role of tumor-associated neutrophils (TANs) in patients operated for colorectal cancer. We analyzed 9 articles (number = 4606 patients). Although a noteworthy degree of heterogeneity was found in terms of study methodology, 8 out of 9 articles surprisingly showed an improved survival in colorectal cancers with high TAN counts. These data suggest that TANs may be favorable prognostic markers in colorectal cancer. Therefore, there is need for standardization of TAN assessment that will help in more accurately predicting prognosis in patients with colorectal cancer.

Keywords: Colorectal cancer, Prognosis, Tumor-associated neutrophils, Tumor microenvironment

SUPPORTING INFORMATION


Author Contributions

Rosario Caruso - Conception of the work, Design of the work, Revising the work critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published, Agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Eleonora Irato - Acquisition of data, Revising the work critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published, Agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Silvana Mirella Aliberti - Acquisition of data, Analysis of data, Revising the work critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published, Agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Mario Capunzo - Acquisition of data, Revising the work critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published, Agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Luciana Rigoli - Acquisition of data, Revising the work critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published, Agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Guarantor of Submission

The corresponding author is the guarantor of submission.

Source of Support

None

Consent Statement

Written informed consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this article.

Data Availability

All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files.

Conflict of Interest

Authors declare no conflict of interest.

Copyright

© 2020 Rosario Caruso et al. This article is distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium provided the original author(s) and original publisher are properly credited. Please see the copyright policy on the journal website for more information.