Association of neutrophils, monocytes, and lymphocytes with CA15-3 as a predictor of breast cancer in female patients

Infiltrated leukocytes, such as neutrophils, monocytes, and lymphocytes can be involved in a variety of tumor development. The present study aimed to investigate the linkage of neutrophils, monocytes, and lymphocytes with CA15-3 as a predictor of breast cancer. The study included 116 patients (58 patients before chemotherapy and 58 patients after chemotherapy. CA15-3 antigen levels were measured, and the grading of breast cancer was identified. In addition, neutrophils, monocytes, and lymphocytes percentage and their correlation to CA15-3 antigen were determined. The results observed a significant increase in the CA15-3 antigen levels. Moreover, the study also showed that CA15-3 antigen levels have a great correlation with grades of breast cancer particularly in grade 3 before treatment. The results also found that neutrophils and monocyte percentages were significantly increased in patients before treatment. However, lymphocyte percentage decreased before treatment and greatly increased after treatment. Additionally, the results showed a positive correlation between neutrophil and monocytes percentage with CA15-3 antigen levels before and after treatment. However, the correlation was negative between lymphocyte percentage and CA15-3 antigen levels. The present findings observed that neutrophils and monocytes have a great association with CA15-3 antigen levels, therefore, targeting these cells could protect against breast cancer development. However, targeting these cells can negatively affect the patient's immune response, thus further studies are needed to study the exact mechanism by which neutrophils and monocytes could enhance breast cancer development. Additionally, increased lymphocytes after treatment might be a good strategy to treat breast cancer.