New Insights Into the Role of Tissue Eosinophils in the Progression of Colorectal Cancer: A Literature Review

• Autor(a) principal: Saraiva, Ana Laura
• Data de Publicação: 2018
• Outros Autores: Carneiro, Fátima
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: https://www.actamedicaportuguesa.com/revista/index.php/amp/article/view/10112
• topic: Colorectal Neoplasms; Eosinophils; Precancerous Conditions; Prognosis; Eosinófilos; Lesões Pré-Cancerosas; Neoplasias Colorretais; Prognóstico

Introduction: Amongst the inflammatory cells implicated in the immune surveillance of colorectal cancer, a growing body of evidence suggests a role for eosinophils in carcinogenesis. We aimed to review the value of tumour-associated tissue eosinophilia (TATE) in the prognosis of colorectal cancer emphasizing the identification and measurement of tissue-infiltrating eosinophils and their association with the clinicopathological features of the disease.Material and Methods: We used PubMed and Web of Science search engines to retrieve studies that looked at the association between tissue eosinophils and colorectal cancer prognosis.Results: We selected 15 studies for our review. In the majority of the studies, eosinophils were identified in hematoxylin-eosin stained sections and scores were generated for analysis. Most of the studies pointed to tumour-associated tissue eosinophilia as a favourable prognostic marker in colorectal cancer and found an inverse association between eosinophil count and the metastatic potential of these neoplasms. The association between tumour-associated tissue eosinophilia and established prognostic markers of colorectal cancer was assessed in some studies, with inconsistent results. Additionally, tumour-associated tissue eosinophilia decreased with the adenoma-carcinoma progression of colorectal lesions.Discussion: Several mechanisms have been proposed regarding eosinophil chemoatraction to tumour tissues and eosinophil-cancer cell cross-talk, suggesting that eosinophils are actively involved in colorectal cancer progression. Although a scoring system is still lacking, tumour-associated tissue eosinophilia meets the criteria of a convenient histopathological prognosticator in colorectal cancer.Conclusion: Collectively, current evidence associates the presence of eosinophils in the colorectal cancer microenvironment with the modulation of tumour progression. The clinical impact of this finding deserves future research.