{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T04:48:44Z","timestamp":1787028524015,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"20","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,16]],"date-time":"2023-10-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1697414400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Due to a higher mutational load, triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is characterized by a higher immunogenicity compared to other subtypes. In this context, we analyzed the prognostic significance of tumor-infiltrating plasma cells in a cohort of 107 triple-negative breast cancer patients. Tumor-infiltrating plasma cells were analyzed via immunohistochemistry using the plasma cell markers CD38 and Ig\u03baC. The prognostic impact of the CD38 and Ig\u03baC expression was evaluated using the Kaplan\u2013Meier plots and Cox regression analyses. A Spearman-Rho correlation coefficient was used to evaluate a possible association between plasma cell infiltration and the BRCA mutation status. The study cohort consisted of 107 patients with early-stage TNBC, who were treated between 2009 and 2016 at the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Medical Center Mainz, Germany. The median follow-up was five years. The Kaplan\u2013Meier survival analysis showed that higher tumor infiltration with CD38-positive plasma cells was associated with significantly longer metastasis-free survival (MFS) (p = 0.039 Log Rank). In the multivariate Cox regression analysis for metastasis-free survival, in which additional clinicopathological factors (age, tumor size, nodal status, and grading) were considered, CD38 was identified as an independent prognostic factor within the analyzed cohort (HR 0.438, 95% CI 0.195\u20130.983; p = 0.045). In addition to the CD38 expression, the nodal status was also identified as an independent prognostic factor in multivariate Cox regression. Regarding the Ig\u03baC expression, a higher Ig\u03baC expression was shown to be associated with a better outcome, although this effect was not statistically significant. Furthermore, we were able to show a significant correlation between plasma cell infiltration and the BRCA mutation status. A favorable prognostic significance of tumor-infiltrating plasma cells could be demonstrated in triple-negative breast cancer immunohistochemically analyzed for the CD38 and Ig\u03baC expression. CD38 was identified as an independent prognostic factor via multivariate Cox regression.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms242015219","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,16]],"date-time":"2023-10-16T01:31:22Z","timestamp":1697419882000},"page":"15219","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":11,"title":["Prognostic Impact of CD38- and Ig\u03baC-Positive Tumor-Infiltrating Plasma Cells in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"24","author":[{"given":"Anne-Sophie","family":"Heimes","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Natali","family":"Riedel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Katrin","family":"Almstedt","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Slavomir","family":"Krajnak","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1489-0011","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Roxana","family":"Schwab","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kathrin","family":"Stewen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Antje","family":"Lebrecht","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marco Johannes","family":"Battista","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1511-6212","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Walburgis","family":"Brenner","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Annette","family":"Hasenburg","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1365-2414","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marcus","family":"Schmidt","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1879","DOI":"10.1200\/JCO.2011.38.2010","article-title":"Dissecting the heterogeneity of triple-negative breast cancer","volume":"30","author":"Tutt","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. 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