Breast carcinomas are the most prevalent type of cancer in women and the most common cause of mortality worldwide. The five-year survival rate varies between 50 and 80 % according to the development level of countries [1], [2]. Even within the same histological and molecular subtype, the prognosis varies widely between cases. Similarly, the differences in the cells that make up the tumor stroma, called tumor microenvironment (TME), suggest that these elements may be one of the reasons for differences in the treatment response and prognosis of the patients.

The concept of the TME was firstly described by Paget and Bissel as a dynamic and organized structure, in which tumor cells acquire malignant properties such as proliferation, invasion, and metastasis [3], [4]. It has been one of the pathological markers that leads the treatment and predicts the treatment response and prognosis.

While tumor buds located in the TME have been found to be an independent risk factor for survival in many cancer types, it has been reported that tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) are one of the prognostic parameters that influence the treatment response [5], [6]. In addition, tumor-associated fibroblasts [7], tumor stroma type, and ratio [8] were also found to have effects on prognosis and treatment response.

In the assessment of the immunological response against the tumor, TILs have been studied in several cancer types and standard evaluation has been achieved [9]. On the other hand, there are fewer studies on mast cells, neutrophils, and eosinophils, which are other immune cells. Therefore, the evaluation and scoring methods differ in these studies, and incompatible results were reported for the effect of these cells on survival and their relationship with other clinicopathological parameters [10], [11], [12], [13], [14], [15], [16], [17], [18], [19], [20], [21], [22], [23].

In our study, we examined non-lymphoid immune cells including neutrophils, eosinophils, and mast cells, in invasive breast carcinomas and aimed to evaluate their relationship with histopathologic and clinical parameters.