The involvement of tumor-associated macrophages in carcinogenesis

The Tumor Microenvironment (TME) contains a significant amount of Tumor-Associated Macrophages (TAMs), a highly changeable heterogeneous population with complex impacts on carcinogenesis and development. TAMs release a wide range of cytokines, chemokines, and proteases that encourage extracellular matrix remodeling, tumor cell proliferation and metastasis, tumors vascular and lymph angiogenesis, and immunosuppression. TAMs with various morphologies have varying effects on the growth and metastasis of tumors. TAMs are a particularly desirable target to suppress tumors growth and metastasis in tumors immunotherapy because they play a crucial role in the formation and development of malignancies. The association between TAMs and the tumors microenvironment is discussed in this article along with its applications in tumor therapy