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Review
. 2021 Feb 2;12(3):230-250.
doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.27870.

Cancer stem cells and macrophages: molecular connections and future perspectives against cancer

Beatrice Aramini  1 , Valentina Masciale  1 , Giulia Grisendi  2 , Federico Banchelli  3 , Roberto D'Amico  3 , Antonino Maiorana  4 , Uliano Morandi  1 , Massimo Dominici  2 , Khawaja Husnain Haider  5
Affiliations
Review

Cancer stem cells and macrophages: molecular connections and future perspectives against cancer

Beatrice Aramini et al. Oncotarget. .

Abstract

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) have been considered the key drivers of cancer initiation and progression due to their unlimited self-renewal capacity and their ability to induce tumor formation. Macrophages, particularly tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), establish a tumor microenvironment to protect and induce CSCs development and dissemination. Many studies in the past decade have been performed to understand the molecular mediators of CSCs and TAMs, and several studies have elucidated the complex crosstalk that occurs between these two cell types. The aim of this review is to define the complex crosstalk between these two cell types and to highlight potential future anti-cancer strategies.

Keywords: cancer; cancer stem cells; future perspectives; macrophages; target treatments.

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Conflict of interest statement

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST Authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Main roles of tumor associated macrophages in cancer development and manteinance.
TAMs and their released factors are involved in different processes controlling the evolution of cancer. Schematic representation of the role of TAMs in tumor growth, angiogenesis, invasion, metastasis and regulation of T lymphocytes.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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