What is Known of the Interaction of Cancer Stem Cells and Tumor Associated Macrophages

Cancers subvert the immune system in order to survive, but also to accelerate their growth. Macrophages are a part of the innate immune system, and have roles in wound healing. They become engaged by a tumor; tumor-associated macrophages assist in the rampant growth of tumor cells by supporting them in an analogous way to the support of regrowth in injured tissues. A cancer is, in many ways, the twisted reflection of regeneration. In place of the intricate dance between macrophages, stem cells, and somatic cells, there is instead an equally complex interaction between tumor-associated macrophages, cancer stem cells, and cancer cells. Better understanding of these interactions might lead to ways to sabotage a cancer by picking apart the signaling, or finding ways in which tumor-associated macrophages or cancer stem cells could be selectively targeted for destruction. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) constitute a cancer cell subpopulation similar to the other stem cell types in terms of self-renewal and multilineage differentiation potential but drive tumor development besides heterogeneity and dissemination of cancer cells. Targeting CSCs for therapeutic purposes is a goal of the scientific community. Currently, cancer treatments target the bulk population of the tumor cells without identifying and targeting CSCs. The significant problem in this regard is the lack of identification marker/s specific for CSCs. Macrophages are large specialized phagocytic cells that exi...
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