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Background Tumor immune cell infiltrates are essential in hindering cancer progression and may complement the TNM classification. CD8+ and CD163+ cells have prognostic impact in breast cancer but their spatial heterogeneity has not been extensively explored in this type of cancer. Here, their potential as prognostic biomarkers was evaluated, depending on their combined densities in the tumor center (TC) and the tumor invasive margin (IM). Methods CD8+ and CD163+ cells were quantified by immunohistochemistry of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tumor tissue samples from a cohort totaling 162 patients with histologically-confirmed primary invasive non-metastatic ductal breast cancer diagnosed between 2000 and 2015. Clinical follow-up (median 6.9 years) was available for 97 of these patients. Results Differential densities of CD8+ and CD163+ cells in the combined TC and IM compartments (i.e., high(H)/low(L), respectively for CD8+ cells and the reverse L/H combination for CD163+ cells) were found to have significant prognostic value for survival, and allowed better patient stratification than TNM stage, tumor size, lymph node invasion and histological grade. The combined evaluation of CD8+ and CD163+ cell densities jointly in TC and IM further improves prediction of clinical outcomes based on disease-free and overall survival. Patients having the favorable immune signatures had favorable clinical outcomes despite poor clinicopathological parameters. Conclusions Given the important roles of CD8+ and CD163+ cells in regulating opposing immune circuits, adding an assessment of their differential densities to the prognostic biomarker armamentarium in breast cancer would be valuable. Larger validation studies are necessary to confirm these findings. Trial registrations Study code: IRB-ID 6079/448/10-6-13 Date of approval: 10/06/2013 Retrospective study (2000–2010) First patient prospectively enrolled 14/2/2014 Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40425-017-0240-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Harnessing the immune system and preventing immune escape, the immunotherapy of cancer provides great potential for clinical application, in broad patient populations, achieving both conventional and unconventional clinical responses. After the substantial advances in melanoma, the focus of cancer immunotherapy has expanded to include many other cancers. Targeting immune checkpoints and further mechanisms used by tumors to avoid anticancer immunity, different approaches are under evaluation, including combination therapies. The first Immunotherapy Bridge meeting focused on various cancer types including melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, renal cell, breast and ovarian carcinoma, and discussed mechanisms of action of single agents and combination strategies, and the prediction of clinical responses.

Meeting abstracts It is becoming increasingly clear that the immune profile of breast cancer patients is informative for patient prognosis. Specifically, immune cells with suppressor or effector function have been shown to be valuable in the prediction of patient course on an individual basis. Our

Meeting abstracts Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers among women. The risk of breast cancer has increased dramatically recently and a higher number of elderly women are being diagnosed with the disease. Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) have been implicated in breast cancer

Background Treating elderly breast cancer patients remains a challenge but the increasing availability of immunotherapeutic approaches instills optimism that these tumours may also be susceptible to immune control. Because aging leads to a number of alterations in the immune system (“immunosenescence”) reflecting potential exhaustion which could compromise immunomodulatory antibody therapy, here we have assessed the immunocompetence of elderly breast cancer patients compared with a group of younger patients, and related this to the 5-year survival of the former. Methods T-cell responses to Her-2 peptide pools in vitro were assessed by analyzing pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine production by CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells in 40 elderly and 35 younger breast cancer patients. Results The proportions of older and younger patients whose peripheral T-cells responded to Her-2 peptides in vitro were found to be similar, although a significantly higher fraction of younger patients possessed IL-2-producing CD4+ Her-2-reactive T-cells than in the elderly (p = 0.03). However, IL-2 production did not impart a survival benefit to the latter. In contrast, there was a survival benefit of possessing Her-2-reactive CD8+ T-cells, but this was abrogated in patients if they also had CD4+ Her-2-responsive T-cells that producedIL-5 and/or IL-17 (p = 0.01). This resulted in a 5-yr survival rate of only 29 % compared to 76 % for patients whose her-2-reactive CD4+ T-cells did not produceIL-5 and/or IL-17. Additionally, patients whose CD8+ T-cells produced TNF had a significantly better survival than those that did not (93 % compared to 52 %, p = 0.01), whereas no survival benefit was attributable to possessing IFN-γ-producing cells. Conclusions Elderly breast cancer patients appear perfectly immunocompetent to respond to Her-2 peptide pools in vitro, with response patterns very similar to younger patients. The nature of this response is associated with 5-year survival of these elderly patients, suggesting that boosting anti-tumor responses and modulating the nature of the T-cell response is likely to be effective even in potentially immunosenescent elderly breast cancer patients, and might be useful for predicting which patients are most likely to benefit from such treatments. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40425-015-0090-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Meeting abstracts Recent studies linking immune signatures in cancer with prognosis have provided unequivocal proof of the essential role of the immune system in tumor pathophysiology. They have also initiated a quest for immune biomarkers that could serve as intermediate endpoints of response to