Department of Medical Genetics, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
Department of Medical Genetics, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Clin Exp Med. 2024 Jul 13;24(1):156. doi: 10.1007/s10238-024-01417-w.
Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) represent one of the most abundant tumor-infiltrating stromal cells, and their normal function in tumor microenvironment (TME) is to suppress tumor cells by producing cytokines which trigger both direct cell cytotoxicity and antibody-mediated immune response. However, upon prolonged exposure to TME, the classical function of these so-called M1-type TAMs can be converted to another type, "M2-type," which are recruited by tumor cells so that they promote tumor growth and metastasis. This is the reason why the accumulation of TAMs in TME is correlated with poor prognosis in cancer patients. Both M1- and M2-types have high degree of plasticity, and M2-type cells can be reprogrammed to M1-type for therapeutic purposes. This characteristic introduces TAMs as promising target for developing novel cancer treatments. In addition, inhibition of M2-type cells and blocking their recruitment in TME, as well as their depletion by inducing apoptosis, are other approaches for effective immunotherapy of cancer. In this review, we summarize the potential of TAMs to be targeted for cancer immunotherapy and provide an up-to-date about novel strategies for targeting TAMs.
肿瘤相关巨噬细胞(TAMs)是肿瘤浸润性基质细胞中最丰富的细胞之一,它们在肿瘤微环境(TME)中的正常功能是通过产生细胞因子来抑制肿瘤细胞,从而触发直接细胞毒性和抗体介导的免疫反应。然而,在长时间暴露于 TME 后,这些所谓的 M1 型 TAMs 的经典功能可以转化为另一种类型,即“M2 型”,它们被肿瘤细胞招募,从而促进肿瘤生长和转移。这就是为什么 TAMs 在 TME 中的积累与癌症患者的预后不良相关的原因。M1 型和 M2 型都具有高度的可塑性,M2 型细胞可以被重新编程为 M1 型,以达到治疗目的。这一特性使 TAMs 成为开发新型癌症治疗方法的有前途的靶点。此外,抑制 M2 型细胞并阻止其在 TME 中的募集,以及通过诱导细胞凋亡来耗尽它们,是癌症有效免疫治疗的另一种方法。在这篇综述中,我们总结了 TAMs 作为癌症免疫治疗靶点的潜力,并提供了针对 TAMs 的新策略的最新信息。
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