High co-expression of IL-34 and M-CSF correlates with tumor progression and poor survival in lung cancers

Despite recent advances in diagnosis and treatment of lung cancers, the 5-year survival rate remains unsatisfactory, which necessitates the identification of novel factors that associates with disease progression and malignant degree for improving diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. Recent progress in cancer immunology research has unveiled critical roles for colony stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF1R) in multiple aspects of the tumor microenvironment. CSF1R is expressed on tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), and mediates important pro-tumorigenic functions. CSF1R also provides critical autocrine signals that promote cancer cell survival and proliferation. Activation of CSF1R can be achieved by two independent ligands; macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF) and interleukin 34 (IL-34). Accordingly, the expression of these ligands in cancer is expected to result in poor prognosis. In this study, we show that IL-34 and M-CSF expression correlates with poor survival in a cohort of lung cancer patients. Importantly, high co-expression of IL-34 and M-CSF associates with the poorest survival compared to cancers that show weak or absent expression of the two ligands. Furthermore, high expression of IL-34 and M-CSF associates with advanced stages of lung cancers. Together, these results indicate a correlation between IL-34/M-CSF expression with poor survival and disease progression in lung cancer patients.