Fig. 3

The quantity of BATMs was negatively associated with EP3 expression in BC and the combination of both parameters significantly correlated to OS and DFS. There was a negative correlation between the quantity of BATMs and the EP3 immunoreactive score (IRS) (a). Tumors in the BTAMs high subgroup showed lower EP3 expression than tumors in the BTAMs low subgroup (b). In the EP3-low subgroup, higher quantities of BATMs occurred than in the EP3-high subgroup (c). OS and DFS were superior in patients with high expression of EP3 compared to EP3 low expressing BC patients (d, e). Patients in the combined subgroup “EP3-low/BATM-high” had the highest mortality risk and highest recurrence risk among all combinations of EP3 high/low and BATMs high/low in the survival analysis (f, g). BATMs, breast adipose tissue macrophage; EP3, prostaglandin E receptor 3; OS, overall survival; DFS, disease-free survival