Department of Anesthesiology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Shanghai Key Laboratory of Perioperative Stress and Protection, Shanghai, China.
Curr Oncol Rep. 2024 Oct;26(10):1169-1175. doi: 10.1007/s11912-024-01573-y. Epub 2024 Jul 16.
The process of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) formation, called NETosis, is a peculiar death modality of neutrophils, which was first observed as an immune response against bacterial infection. However, an ongoing and exaggerated NETs formation may have adverse clinical consequences and even promote cancer progression. This review will discuss the complex relationship between NETosis and cancer progression.
NETs exhibits cancer-promoting effects by causing cancer metastaisis and tumor-associated thrombosis. Many studies have found that many mechanisms are involved in the process, and the corresponding targets could be applied for cancer therapy. Although NETs may have anti-bacteria effects, it is necessary to inhibit an excessive NETs formation, mostly showing cancer-promoting effects. The contribution of NETs to cancer progression has gained a growing appreciation and the approaches to targeting NETs deposition exhibited beneficial effects both in primary and metastatic tumors, which, however, has been challenged by a recent finding demonstrating an opposite effect of NETs to suppress tumor growth via the activation of immune response against tumor. This seeming discrepancy reflects we are in the early stage of NETs study facing fundamental questions and a better understanding of the underlying mechanism is urgently needed.
中性粒细胞胞外诱捕网（NETs）的形成过程，称为 NETosis，是中性粒细胞的一种特殊死亡方式，最初被观察到是作为一种针对细菌感染的免疫反应。然而，持续和过度的 NETosis 形成可能会产生不良的临床后果，甚至促进癌症的进展。这篇综述将讨论 NETosis 与癌症进展之间复杂的关系。
NETosis 通过引起癌症转移和肿瘤相关的血栓形成，表现出促进癌症的作用。许多研究发现，许多机制参与了这个过程，相应的靶点可以应用于癌症治疗。虽然 NETs 可能具有抗细菌的作用，但有必要抑制过度的 NETosis 形成，因为其主要表现为促进癌症的作用。NETs 对癌症进展的贡献越来越受到重视，针对 NETs 沉积的方法在原发性和转移性肿瘤中都显示出了有益的效果，但最近的一项发现表明，NETs 通过激活针对肿瘤的免疫反应来抑制肿瘤生长，这对这一观点提出了挑战。这种看似矛盾的现象反映出我们正处于 NETs 研究的早期阶段，面临着一些基本问题，迫切需要更好地理解其潜在机制。
