Research Progress of M2-type Tumor-associated Macrophages in Lung Cancer

Abstract

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) account for a large proportion in tumor stroma, and can be divided into M1 type (anti-tumoral) and M2 type (pro-tumoral). Recently, many experimental and clinical studies have shown that M2-type TAMs are significantly correlated with tumor stage, tumor cell differentiation, depth of invasion, angiogenesis, lymph node metastasis and therapeutic drug resistance, which eventually affects the prognosis of tumor patients. Targeted TAMs therapy is expected to benefit cancer patients. This paper reviews the recent research of M2-type TAMs in lung cancer.

Keywords

• lung cancer
• tumor-associated macrophages
• tumor microenvironment