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Review
. 2024 Nov 14:6:100275.
doi: 10.1016/j.jlb.2024.100275. eCollection 2024 Dec.

Cancer-associated macrophage-like cells as a prognostic biomarker in solid tumors

Anthony Pirrello  1   2 , Murray Killingsworth  3 , Kevin Spring  4 , John E J Rasko  1   5   6   7 , Dannel Yeo  1   2   5   6
Affiliations
Review

Cancer-associated macrophage-like cells as a prognostic biomarker in solid tumors

Anthony Pirrello et al. J Liq Biopsy. .

Abstract

Cancer-associated macrophage-like cells (CAMLs) are myeloid-lineage cells associated with cancer-derived material that are detectable in the blood. In addition to circulating tumor cells, CAMLs are a promising liquid biopsy biomarker which may assist with prognostication for patient stratification and monitoring response to chemotherapy and radiotherapy in solid tumors. CAMLs have been detected in blood samples from patients with various tumors including lung, pancreas, breast, oesophageal, and colorectal cancers, and to date have not been detected in healthy individuals. However, the optimal method of detection, their origin, function in the circulation, and ultimate utility have not been fully elucidated. This review provides an overview of CAML-related studies and explores their future potential to guide clinical decision-making.

Keywords: Biomarker; Circulating tumor cells; Liquid biopsy; Precision medicine.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Dannel Yeo reports financial support was provided by Tour de Cure Ltd (RSP-320). Dannel Yeo reports financial support was provided by Sydney Cancer Partners via Cancer Institute NSW (2021/CBG0002). John EJ Rasko reports financial support was provided by Li Ka Shing Foundation. John EJ Rasko reports financial support was provided by National Health and Medical Research Council (Investigator grant: 1177305). John EJ Rasko, Kevin Spring reports financial support was provided by Cancer Council New South Wales (RG20-07). John EJ Rasko reports a relationship with Office of the Gene Technology Regulator that includes: consulting or advisory. John EJ Rasko reports a relationship with Spark Therapeutics Inc that includes: consulting or advisory. John EJ Rasko reports a relationship with Cynata that includes: consulting or advisory. John EJ Rasko reports a relationship with Pfizer Inc that includes: consulting or advisory. John EJ Rasko reports a relationship with RareCyte that includes: equity or stocks. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Cancer-associated macrophage-like cell (CAML) formation following tumor-associated macrophage (TAM)-cancer cell phagocytosis. CAMLs are thought to be disseminated into the peripheral blood following TAM phagocytosis of cancer cells.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Schematic and examples of curculating tumor-related cells: cancer-associated macrophage-like cells (CAMLs), circulating tumor cells (CTCs), and circulating hybrid cells (CHCs). A: CAMLs can have an atypical single nucleus or multiple nuclei with tumor protein epitopes in cytoplasmic vesicles (red arrow). Typically, smaller CAMLs present as rounded or oval shaped in comparison to their larger counterparts which are more elongated. CAMLs typically range from 25 to 300 μm, marking them significantly larger than CTCs and CHCs. CAMLs and CHCs express the immune surface marker (CD45), macrophage-specific (CD14) and epithelial-specific (cytokeratin (CK) and epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM)) markers, while CTCs express only epithelial-specific markers. B: Example of CAML, CTC and CHC demonstrating the morphology and marker expressions for each cell type. Peripheral blood samples from pancreatic cancer patients were processed using the CellSieve™ size-exclusion microfiltration method and cells identified using the CyteFinder II microscope with CyteMapper analysis software. Scale bar = 50 μm. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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