Tumor Associated Macrophages and TAMs‐Based Anti‐Tumor Nanomedicines

Abstract

As an important part of tumor microenvironment, tumor associated macrophages (TAMs) play a vital role in the occurrence, development, invasion, and metastasis of many malignant tumors and can significantly promote the formation of tumor blood vessels and lymphatic vessels, hence TAMs are greatly associated with poor prognosis. The research on nanomedicine has achieved huge progress, and nano-drugs have been widely utilized to treat various diseases through different mechanisms. Therefore, developing nano-drugs that are based on TAMs-associated anti-tumor mechanisms to effectively suppress tumor growth is expected to be a promising research filed. This paper introduces relevant information about TAMs in terms of their origin, and their roles in tumor genesis, development and metastasis. Furthermore, TAMs-related anti-tumor nano-drugs are summarized. Specifically, a wide range of nano-drugs targeting at TAMs are introduced, and categorized according to their therapeutic mechanisms toward tumors. Additionally, various nano delivery platforms using TAMs as cell carriers which aim at inhibiting tumor growth are reviewed. These two parts elucidate that the exploration of nanomedicine is essential to the study on TAMs-related anti-tumor strategies. This review is also intended to provide novel ideas for in-depth investigation on anti-tumor molecular mechanisms and nano-drug delivery systems based on TAMs.

Combining immune checkpoint blockade with ATP-based immunogenic cell death amplifier for cancer chemo-immunotherapy

“…M2 macrophages is a key biomarker for TIM, which induces tumor hypoxia, insufficient T cell infiltration, multidrug resistance and eventually causes tumor immune tolerance 27 , 29 , 31 . As displayed in Fig.…”

“…Furthermore, most TAM in solid tumor is M2 phenotype, leading to tumor proliferation 29 , 30 . Meanwhile, hypoxia tumor microenvironment also facilitate M2 phenotype polarization of TAM 31 . Therefore, an ideal strategy for cancer immunotherapy should not only induce tumor ICD effect, but also polarize TAM from M2 to M1 and relieve hypoxia microenvironment to reverse TIM.…”

Pan-Cancer Analyses Reveal Oncogenic Role and Prognostic Value of F-Box Only Protein 22

“…TILs are an important part of tumor microenvironment (TME) and are involved in the occurrence, development, and metastasis of tumors ( 46 ). However, the relationship between FBXO22 expression and TILs/TME is unclear.…”

Monocyte–Macrophage Lineage Cell Fusion

“…One is the reprogramming of tissue-resident macrophages to TAMs by the tumor milieu. Another is the recruitment of circulating monocytes into the tumor, where they differentiate into TAMs [ 72 , 73 , 74 ]. One of the theories of tumor progression and metastasis states that TAMs and other cells of myeloid origin fuse with cancer cells, allowing them to acquire motility and metastasize [ 52 , 53 , 75 , 76 , 77 ].…”