The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) declared that the incidence of female patients with breast cancer surpassed that with lung cancer as the most commonly diagnosed cancer, with an estimated 2.3 million new cases (11.7%) in 2020[1]. The 5-year relative survival rate of patients with distant metastasis has decreased significantly to 28%[2]. Metastasis is the process by which cancer cells successfully evade immune surveillance[3]. Cancer patients often exhibit weakened immunity in the middle and later stages[4], and T cells are exhausted in tumors[5]. This case provides conditions for cancer cells to spread from the primary tumor to distant organs. Ninety percent of cancer deaths are related to tumor metastasis [6]. The immune system plays an important role in monitoring and killing malignant tumors[7]. With tumor occurrence, the pathological tissue generates an inflammatory microenvironment, which continuously secretes related chemokines to recruit immune cells for aggregation[8]. In addition to macrophages, CD4 + and CD8 + T lymphocytes are common effector cells. The degree of infiltration reflects the body's antitumor immune response status[9].
Chemokines play an important role in immune cell recruitment in the inflammatory tumor microenvironment. More than 44 ligands have been identified in the human genome[10]. C-X-C chemokine receptor type 10 (CXCL10) is a member of the chemokine family[11]. CXCL10 is highly expressed in breast tumors and affects adaptive immunity, angiogenesis, inflammation and hematopoiesis. CXC chemokine receptor-3 (CXCR3) is an interferon-inducible chemokine receptor. As the receptor of CXCL10, CXCR3 has three splice variants, CXCR3-A, CXCR3-B and CXCR3-Alt[12]. Therefore, CXCL10 has a dual function of promoting or inhibiting tumors in tumor cells, depending on the type of CXCR3 receptor[13]. CXCL10 promotes tumor cell proliferation and antiapoptotic effects via CXCR3-A[14]. CXCL10 can directly inhibit tumor cell proliferation via CXCR3-B [15]. CXCR3 plays a crucial role in immunity and inflammation[16]. It is predominantly expressed by a variety of immune cells, including T helper cells, cytotoxic T lymphocytes, dendritic cells, macrophages, natural killer cells and infiltrating lymphocytes[17, 18]. CXCL10 can recruit CXCR3 + T lymphocytes to immune cells, thereby exerting antitumor effects. Tumors with high expression of CXCL10 have a good prognosis [19]. CXCR3 + Tregs can be recruited by CXCL10 in the tumor microenvironment, leading to immunosuppressive and tumor-promoting effects [20]. CXCL10 affects the tumor microenvironment in a paracrine way and plays a role in tumor progression and metastasis[20]. In summary, the promoting or inhibitory effect of CXCL10 on tumor immunity is related to the balance between CXCR3 + T lymphocytes and CXCR3 + Tregs[21]. This work revealed a negative correlation between CXCL12 and CXCL10. The CXCL12/CXCR4 axis is involved in tumor progression, angiogenesis, metastasis, and survival[22]. The CXCL12/CXCR4 signaling pathway has emerged as a potential therapeutic target [23]. In pancreatic cancer, CXCR4/CXCL12 can reduce the ability of T cells to enter the TME [24]. Pancreatic cancer cells evade cancer immune attack[25].
The infiltration of immune cells into solid tumors, their movement within the tumor microenvironment (TME), and interactions with other immune cells are controlled by their directed migration toward gradients of chemokines. Dysregulated chemokine signaling in the TME favors the growth of tumors, exclusion of effector immune cells, and an increase in the abundance of immunosuppressive cells[26]. This work explored the balance between CXCL12 and CXCL10 in the BC microenvironment, as well as their impact on CD4 + T and CD8 + T-cell infiltration. The purpose of this work was to enhance T-cell infiltration and antitumor activity and to provide a basis for clinical treatment.