Roles of Macrophages in Tumor Development: a Spatiotemporal Perspective

Overview

Journal Cell Mol Immunol

Date 2023 Jul 10

PMID 37429944

Authors

Mathilde Bied

William W Ho

Florent Ginhoux

Camille Bleriot

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Macrophages are critical regulators of tissue homeostasis but are also abundant in the tumor microenvironment (TME). In both primary tumors and metastases, such tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) seem to support tumor development. While we know that TAMs are the dominant immune cells in the TME, their vast heterogeneity and associated functions are only just being unraveled. In this review, we outline the various known TAM populations found thus far and delineate their specialized roles associated with the main stages of cancer progression. We discuss how macrophages may prime the premetastatic niche to enable the growth of a metastasis and then how subsequent metastasis-associated macrophages can support secondary tumor growth. Finally, we speculate on the challenges that remain to be overcome in TAM research.

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