Natural killer (NK) cell profiles in blood and tumour in women with large and locally advanced breast cancer (LLABC) and their contribution to a pathological complete response (PCR) in the tumour following neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC): differential restoration of blood profiles by NAC and surgery

Table 8 Correlation between tumour-infiltrating CD56⁺ NK cells and grade of pathological response [Spearman’s correlation coefficient (rho)] in patients with LLABCs pre NAC (n = 16)

Groups		Pre NAC CD56⁺ NK cells
Groups		Intratumoural infiltrating	Peritumoural infiltrating
Grade of pathological response^a	Correlation coefficient	0.454	0.683
Grade of pathological response^a	P value (2-tailed)	0.077	0.004*

LLABCs large (≥3 cm) and locally advanced breast cancers (T3–4 N1–2 M0), NAC neoadjuvant chemotherapy.
* Statistically significant.
^aPathological responses were graded from grade 1 (no pathological response) to grade 5 (complete pathological response)

ISSN: 1479-5876