Macrophages promote progression of lung cancer by regulating ubiquitin-specific peptidase 17 in cancer cells

Received: September 28, 2018; Accepted: October 12, 2018; Published: October 16, 2018 Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are stromal cells in the tumor microenvironment that affect the progression of tumor development. Macrophages can be divided into different subsets based on their functions. A simplistic model is that M1 (or classically activated) macrophages favor the immunosurveillance of malignant cells and M2 (or alternatively activated) macrophages exert immunosuppressive effects and perform protumoral functions. TAMs are not a single uniform population. They exhibit features that are intermediate between the M1 and M2 macrophage phenotypes. In some cancer types such as lung cancer, extensive accumulation of TAMs is often associated with poor prognosis. In addition to the regulation of immunological responses, TAMs promote tumor progression through the regulation of cancer cell proliferation, invasion, and metastasis. Therefore, the molecular mechanisms underlying the interaction between macrophages and cancer cells to build a protumoral microenvironment were investigated with the goal of developing antitumor strategies [1-4].