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The cross-talk between macrophages and tumor cells as a target for cancer treatment

Macrophages represent an important component of the innate immune system. Under physiological conditions, macrophages, which are essential phagocytes, maintain a proinflammatory response and repair damaged tissue. However, these processes are often impaired upon tumorigenesis, in which tumor-associa...

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Autores principales: Aizaz, Muhammad, Khan, Aakif, Khan, Faisal, Khan, Maria, Musad Saleh, Ebraheem Abdu, Nisar, Maryum, Baran, Natalia
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10682792/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/38033495
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2023.1259034
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author Aizaz, Muhammad
Khan, Aakif
Khan, Faisal
Khan, Maria
Musad Saleh, Ebraheem Abdu
Nisar, Maryum
Baran, Natalia
author_facet Aizaz, Muhammad
Khan, Aakif
Khan, Faisal
Khan, Maria
Musad Saleh, Ebraheem Abdu
Nisar, Maryum
Baran, Natalia
author_sort Aizaz, Muhammad
collection PubMed
description Macrophages represent an important component of the innate immune system. Under physiological conditions, macrophages, which are essential phagocytes, maintain a proinflammatory response and repair damaged tissue. However, these processes are often impaired upon tumorigenesis, in which tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) protect and support the growth, proliferation, and invasion of tumor cells and promote suppression of antitumor immunity. TAM abundance is closely associated with poor outcome of cancer, with impediment of chemotherapy effectiveness and ultimately a dismal therapy response and inferior overall survival. Thus, cross-talk between cancer cells and TAMs is an important target for immune checkpoint therapies and metabolic interventions, spurring interest in it as a therapeutic vulnerability for both hematological cancers and solid tumors. Furthermore, targeting of this cross-talk has emerged as a promising strategy for cancer treatment with the antibody against CD47 protein, a critical macrophage checkpoint recognized as the “don’t eat me” signal, as well as other metabolism-focused strategies. Therapies targeting CD47 constitute an important milestone in the advancement of anticancer research and have had promising effects on not only phagocytosis activation but also innate and adaptive immune system activation, effectively counteracting tumor cells’ evasion of therapy as shown in the context of myeloid cancers. Targeting of CD47 signaling is only one of several possibilities to reverse the immunosuppressive and tumor-protective tumor environment with the aim of enhancing the antitumor response. Several preclinical studies identified signaling pathways that regulate the recruitment, polarization, or metabolism of TAMs. In this review, we summarize the current understanding of the role of macrophages in cancer progression and the mechanisms by which they communicate with tumor cells. Additionally, we dissect various therapeutic strategies developed to target macrophage–tumor cell cross-talk, including modulation of macrophage polarization, blockade of signaling pathways, and disruption of physical interactions between leukemia cells and macrophages. Finally, we highlight the challenges associated with tumor hypoxia and acidosis as barriers to effective cancer therapy and discuss opportunities for future research in this field.
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spelling pubmed-106827922023-11-30 The cross-talk between macrophages and tumor cells as a target for cancer treatment Aizaz, Muhammad Khan, Aakif Khan, Faisal Khan, Maria Musad Saleh, Ebraheem Abdu Nisar, Maryum Baran, Natalia Front Oncol Oncology Macrophages represent an important component of the innate immune system. Under physiological conditions, macrophages, which are essential phagocytes, maintain a proinflammatory response and repair damaged tissue. However, these processes are often impaired upon tumorigenesis, in which tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) protect and support the growth, proliferation, and invasion of tumor cells and promote suppression of antitumor immunity. TAM abundance is closely associated with poor outcome of cancer, with impediment of chemotherapy effectiveness and ultimately a dismal therapy response and inferior overall survival. Thus, cross-talk between cancer cells and TAMs is an important target for immune checkpoint therapies and metabolic interventions, spurring interest in it as a therapeutic vulnerability for both hematological cancers and solid tumors. Furthermore, targeting of this cross-talk has emerged as a promising strategy for cancer treatment with the antibody against CD47 protein, a critical macrophage checkpoint recognized as the “don’t eat me” signal, as well as other metabolism-focused strategies. Therapies targeting CD47 constitute an important milestone in the advancement of anticancer research and have had promising effects on not only phagocytosis activation but also innate and adaptive immune system activation, effectively counteracting tumor cells’ evasion of therapy as shown in the context of myeloid cancers. Targeting of CD47 signaling is only one of several possibilities to reverse the immunosuppressive and tumor-protective tumor environment with the aim of enhancing the antitumor response. Several preclinical studies identified signaling pathways that regulate the recruitment, polarization, or metabolism of TAMs. In this review, we summarize the current understanding of the role of macrophages in cancer progression and the mechanisms by which they communicate with tumor cells. Additionally, we dissect various therapeutic strategies developed to target macrophage–tumor cell cross-talk, including modulation of macrophage polarization, blockade of signaling pathways, and disruption of physical interactions between leukemia cells and macrophages. Finally, we highlight the challenges associated with tumor hypoxia and acidosis as barriers to effective cancer therapy and discuss opportunities for future research in this field. Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-11-14 /pmc/articles/PMC10682792/ /pubmed/38033495 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2023.1259034 Text en Copyright © 2023 Aizaz, Khan, Khan, Khan, Musad Saleh, Nisar and Baran https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Oncology
Aizaz, Muhammad
Khan, Aakif
Khan, Faisal
Khan, Maria
Musad Saleh, Ebraheem Abdu
Nisar, Maryum
Baran, Natalia
The cross-talk between macrophages and tumor cells as a target for cancer treatment
title The cross-talk between macrophages and tumor cells as a target for cancer treatment
title_full The cross-talk between macrophages and tumor cells as a target for cancer treatment
title_fullStr The cross-talk between macrophages and tumor cells as a target for cancer treatment
title_full_unstemmed The cross-talk between macrophages and tumor cells as a target for cancer treatment
title_short The cross-talk between macrophages and tumor cells as a target for cancer treatment
title_sort cross-talk between macrophages and tumor cells as a target for cancer treatment
topic Oncology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10682792/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/38033495
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2023.1259034
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