CD163+ macrophages in the triple-negative breast tumor microenvironment are associated with improved survival in the Women’s Circle of Health Study and the Women’s Circle of Health Follow-Up Study

Table 3 Multivariable Cox regression models assessing associations of CD163⁺ cell density tertiles with overall survival and breast cancer-specific survival in the overall cohort

Model	Characteristic	Overall survival			Breast cancer-specific survival
Model	Characteristic	Events/N	HR (95% CI)¹	p-value	Events/N	HR (95% CI)¹	p-value
Model 1	CD163
	T1	47/182	–		24/182	–
	T2	41/182	0.92 (0.61–1.40)	0.71	20/182	0.88 (0.49–1.60)	0.69
	T3	39/182	0.95 (0.62–1.45)	0.81	17/182	0.82 (0.44–1.52)	0.52
	Age	127/546	1.18 (1.09–1.28)	< 0.001	61/546	1.48 (1.29–1.69)	< 0.001
Model 2	CD163
	T1	45/180	–		24/181	–
	T2	37/177	0.64 (0.41–1.01)	0.056	19/180	0.74 (0.40–1.38)	0.34
	T3	38/180	0.59 (0.37–0.94)	0.026	17/181	0.59 (0.30–1.14)	0.11
	Age	120/537	1.27 (1.16–1.39)	< 0.001	60/542	1.52 (1.33–1.75)	< 0.001
	Stage
	I	36/236	–		25/236	–
	II	47/240	1.04 (0.65–1.68)	0.86	25/242	1.21 (0.69–2.14)	0.51
	III/IV	37/61	4.77 (2.65–8.59)	< 0.001	10/64	3.21 (1.51–6.79)	0.002
	Subtype
	Luminal	62/327	–		34/330	–
	Triple negative	39/119	2.56 (1.64–3.98)	< 0.001	17/120	2.55 (1.38–4.71)	0.003
	HER2+	19/91	1.83 (1.06–3.15)	0.030	9/92	1.29 (0.61–2.74)	0.51
	Tumor size	120/537	1.18 (1.06–1.30)	0.002
	BMI	120/537	1.20 (1.05–1.36)	0.006

CD163⁺ cell density categorized into tertiles based on the overall cohort distribution
Model 1 adjusted for age at diagnosis. OS/Model 2 adjusted for age, stage, subtype, tumor size, and BMI. BCSS/Model 2 adjusted for age, stage, and subtype
Age, BMI, and tumor size modeled continuously reflecting a 5-year increase in age, a 5-kg/m² increase in BMI, and 1 cm increase in tumor size
¹HR Hazard Ratio, CI Confidence Interval

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