Figure 2

NK and NKT cells are low at BL but tend to increase with treatment. Flow cytometric analyzes of PBMCs from healthy controls (HC) and breast cancer patients before (baseline; BL), at 1 month, 3 months or at 6 months of treatment. (a,b, left panels) Percentages of CD56⁺CD3⁻ NK cells (a) or CD56⁺CD3⁺ NKT cells (b) of PBMCs. Dashed lines represent median. HC n = 10, BL n = 9, 1mo n = 6 and 3mo n = 9. Exact p-values, by Kruskal-Wallis with Dunn’s multiple comparison test, are indicated. (a,b, right panels) Fold change as compared to BL of NK (a) or NKT cells (b) upon treatment with chemotherapy (ChT, black symbols; BL n = 4, 1mo n = 3, 3 mo n = 4) or endocrine therapy (ET, white symbols; BL n = 5, 1mo n = 3, 3mo n = 5). Dashed line represents BL levels (set to 1). Exact p-values, by Kruskal-Wallis with Dunn’s multiple comparison test, are indicated. (c,d) Fold change as compared to BL of NK cells (c) or NKT cells (d) upon treatment with chemotherapy (ChT, black symbols, n = 2) or endocrine therapy (ET, white symbols, n = 3). Dashed line represents BL levels (set to 1). Exact p-values, by Wilcoxon signed-rank test, are indicated.