REVIEW article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Molecular Innate Immunity
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1680455
This article is part of the Research TopicMulti-Omics Interrogation of Tumor-Associated Macrophages: Paving the Way for Next-Generation Cancer ImmunotherapiesView all articles
Immunotherapy Strategies Targeting Tumor-Associated Macrophages and Their Mechanisms of Action in Tumor Progression
Provisionally accepted
- Nantong Tumor Hospital, Nantong, China
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The tumor microenvironment significantly influences the aggressive invasive characteristics of human solid tumors, with the infiltration of immune cells being a defining feature of tumor advancement. Among the diverse cell types present in the tumor microenvironment, tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) stand out as crucial regulatory centers in the interplay between tumors and the immune system. Recent developments in single-cell sequencing technologies, combined with an expanding body of research, have revealed the functional diversity and heterogeneity of TAMs, as well as the mechanisms through which they interact within the tumor microenvironment. This indicates that TAMs could represent innovative targets for therapies aimed at tumors, thus promoting the creation of tailored anti-cancer strategies. This article provides a review of the various types of TAMs, their influence on tumor development and progression, their regulatory functions in tumor activities, and the progress in tumor immunotherapy that focuses on targeting TAMs.
Keywords: Tumor Microenvironment, Tumor-associated macrophages, Tumor immunotherapy, immune cell, tumor treatment
Received: 06 Aug 2025; Accepted: 02 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhu, Shao, Shao, Cai, Gu, Ge and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Chunyan Gu, Nantong Tumor Hospital, Nantong, China
Qin Ge, Nantong Tumor Hospital, Nantong, China
Jibin Liu, Nantong Tumor Hospital, Nantong, China
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