Figure 3

Mo-MDSCs are enriched at BL but decline during the course of treatment. Flow cytometric analyzes of PBMCs from healthy controls (HC) and breast cancer patients before (baseline; BL), at 1 month or at 3 months of treatment. (a–c, left panels) Percentages of CD14⁺HLA-DR^low/− Mo-MDSCs of PBMCs (a), Mo-MDSCs of CD14⁺ cells (b) or total CD14⁺ monocytes (c), depicted over time for individual patients. Dashed lines represent median. HC n = 10, BL n = 10, 1mo n = 8 and 3mo n = 10. Exact p-values, by Kruskal-Wallis with Dunn’s multiple comparison test are indicated, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001. (a–c, right panels) Fold change as compared to BL of Mo-MDSCs of PBMCs (a), Mo-MDSCs of CD14⁺ cells (b) or all CD14⁺ monocytes (c) upon treatment with chemotherapy (ChT, black symbols) or endocrine therapy (ET, white symbols). Dashed line represents BL levels (set to 1). BL n = 5, 1mo n = 4, 3mo n = 5. Exact p-values, by Wilcoxon signed-rank test, are indicated.