Cancer Promoted By Macrophages

Scientists have unveiled new research that suggests that macrophages – the potent immune system cells thought to protect against cancer may actually be promoting metastasis – the deadliest part of the cancer process.  Read more about Molecular Targeted Cancer Therapies: Leading Companies Will Hold Onto Competitive Advantage In High Growth Market – A Commercial Insight

Scientists analyzed the movement of breast cancer cells in mice to prove that distinct populations of macrophages enable malignant cancer cells to spread in distant areas. This process is referred to as metastasis, and is the primary reason why patients suffering from cancer die.

The researchers feel that this new discovery will provide a potentially useful new target for anti-cancer therapy. This new finding is a vulnerable step in the process of cancer which might be blocked by cancer drug treatments. The researchers were able to show that the metastatic tumor growth in cancer patients is inhibited when these unusual macrophages are killed.

This research also proves that even after breast cancer cells have lodged into an animal’s lungs and began growing aggressively, by erasing the special macrophages, scientists were able to dramatically slow down the growth of the metastasized tumors. What this means is that anti-macrophage therapy will have an impact on even the cancer patients with metastatic disease.

This new cancer study shows how the macrophages or their unique signaling pathways represent new therapeutic targets which may prove effective in the reduction of patients dying form cancer.

Normally, macrophages are important for the maintenance of health because they are an integral part of the immune system. Their role is to clean up debris after disease of injury, identify bacteria and viruses that need to be killed and alert other immune system cells when an infection has began.

These findings show that macrophages can act on the primary tumor location for the enhancement of the progression and malignancy of the tumor. In this way macrophages are somewhat traitors due to the fact that they enhance metastatic growth, which is the worst aspect of cancer. This study is important as it illustrates the impact of macrophages on distant sites, as well as the identity of the macrophage population. This becomes the first ever such proof that the macrophages affect this location at the site of metastatic tumor growth.

Metastatic disease is the major cause of mortality in cancer patients, partly because the distant tumors tend to resist radiation and chemotherapy treatments. Unfortunately, the biological mechanisms which underlie the metastatic disease are not yet well understood, and as such much more research into this field is required.
Read more about Molecular Targeted Cancer Therapies: Leading Companies Will Hold Onto Competitive Advantage In High Growth Market – A Commercial Insight