Macrophages in leukemia microenvironment

Macrophages, the important component of tissue microenvironment, play important roles in both physiological and pathological processes, including tumor and leukemia. Tumor-associated macrophages are involved in tumor proliferation, angiogenesis, invasion, metastasis, and chemotherapy resistance. In leukemia, macrophages are educated by leukemia microenvironment to obtain specific activated phenotype and participate in leukemia progression. Recent studies have shown that accumulation of macrophages in leukemia patients or mouse model is correlated with poor prognosis. Hence, increasing attentions have been paid to study the characteristics of them and to develop novel therapeutic strategies targeting macrophages against leukemia. In this article, we summarize recent development of macrophages in leukemia microenvironment.