Division of Hematology-Oncology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Nat Immunol. 2022 Aug;23(8):1148-1156. doi: 10.1038/s41590-022-01267-2. Epub 2022 Jul 25.
Long recognized as an evolutionarily ancient cell type involved in tissue homeostasis and immune defense against pathogens, macrophages are being re-discovered as regulators of several diseases, including cancer. Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) represent the most abundant innate immune population in the tumor microenvironment (TME). Macrophages are professional phagocytic cells of the hematopoietic system specializing in the detection, phagocytosis and destruction of bacteria and other harmful micro-organisms, apoptotic cells and metabolic byproducts. In contrast to these healthy macrophage functions, TAMs support cancer cell growth and metastasis and mediate immunosuppressive effects on the adaptive immune cells of the TME. Cancer is one of the most potent insults on macrophage physiology, inducing changes that are intimately linked with disease progression. In this Review, we outline hallmarks of TAMs and discuss the emerging mechanisms that contribute to their pathophysiological adaptations and the vulnerabilities that provide attractive targets for therapeutic exploitation in cancer.
巨噬细胞长期以来被认为是一种参与组织稳态和免疫防御病原体的进化古老的细胞类型，现在被重新发现为多种疾病（包括癌症）的调节剂。肿瘤相关巨噬细胞（TAMs）是肿瘤微环境（TME）中最丰富的固有免疫细胞群。巨噬细胞是造血系统的专业吞噬细胞，专门用于检测、吞噬和破坏细菌和其他有害微生物、凋亡细胞和代谢副产物。与这些健康的巨噬细胞功能相反，TAMs 支持癌细胞生长和转移，并对 TME 中的适应性免疫细胞产生免疫抑制作用。癌症是对巨噬细胞生理功能最具侵袭性的因素之一，诱导的变化与疾病进展密切相关。在这篇综述中，我们概述了 TAMs 的特征，并讨论了促进它们病理生理适应的新兴机制，以及为癌症治疗提供有吸引力的靶点的脆弱性。
