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REVIEW article

Front. Oncol.

Sec. Cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy

Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1593510

This article is part of the Research TopicImmune-Cancer Cell InteractionView all 13 articles

Advances in the Mechanism and Therapeutic Potential of Neutrophil Extracellular Traps in Cancer Promotion

Provisionally accepted
Xiaorui  LiXiaorui Li1,2Huilin  WangHuilin Wang1,2Jingchang  LiJingchang Li1,2Chuangchuang  LiChuangchuang Li1,2Shuo  ZhaoShuo Zhao1Qing  WangQing Wang1,2Weihong  RenWeihong Ren1*
  • 1The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, China
  • 2First Clinical Medical College, Henan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) are chromatin-based structures containing histones and granular proteases released during NETosis. They constitute a key antimicrobial defense mechanism while exposing pathogenic histones. While NET components effectively eliminate microorganisms, their pro-inflammatory and cytotoxic properties inflict significant damage on host endothelial cells and tissues. This damage contributes to diverse pathologies, including autoimmune diseases where NET-derived components act as autoantigens, as well as circulatory disorders, diabetes, and especially, cancer. Recent research has increasingly illuminated the critical connection between NETs and cancer progression, highlighting their role in promoting tumor development across all stages through inflammation and tissue injury. Consequently, targeting NET composition, formation, or release has emerged as a promising therapeutic strategy. These approaches effectively mitigate NET-mediated pathogenesis while circumventing the drawbacks of direct neutrophil depletion. Although translating these strategies into widespread clinical practice presents challenges, experimental studies demonstrate significant potential. This review examines the mechanisms by which NETs drive cancer, explores current therapeutic applications targeting NETs, and discusses both the prospects and challenges of this evolving anticancer approach.

Keywords: Neutrophils, extracellular traps, 促进癌症, Tumer immunity, targeted therapy

Received: 14 Mar 2025; Accepted: 01 Sep 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Li, Wang, Li, Li, Zhao, Wang and Ren. 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: Weihong Ren, The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, China

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