Research Advances of Tumor-associated Macrophages in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are important immune cells in tumor microenvironment and are mainly divided into two subtypes: classical activated M1 macrophages and alternative activated M2 macrophages. In many kinds of cancers, TAMs are mainly M2-type and promote tumor proliferation, angiogenesis and induce tumor cell invasion and metastasis. At present, increasing evidences have been suggested that TAMs could interact with tumors cells to enhance the tumorigenesis. TAMs are expected to become the important target in clinical treatments. This article reviews the origin and function of TAMs and their roles in tumorigenesis.