Rojas Armando, Añazco Carolina, Araya Paulina
Biomedical Research Laboratories, Medicine Faculty, Catholic University of Maule, 3605 San Miguel Ave., Talca, Chile.
Inflamm Res. 2017 Jan;66(1):13-15. doi: 10.1007/s00011-016-0994-2. Epub 2016 Oct 3.
Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are key elements in orchestrating host responses inside tumor stroma. This population may undergo a polarized activation process, thus rendering a heterogeneous spectrum of phenotypes, where the classically activated type 1 macrophages (M1) and the alternative activated type 2 macrophages (M2) represent two extreme phenotypes. In this commentary, based on very recent research findings, we intend to highlight how complex could be the crosstalk among all components of tumor stroma, where the coexistence of non-natural partners may even skew the canonical responses that we can expect.