Title:Always Look On the Bright Side: Anti-Tumor Functions of Neutrophils
Volume: 23
Issue: 32
Author(s): Sandra Vols, Ronit Vogt Sionov and Zvi Granot*
Affiliation:
- Department of Developmental Biology and Cancer Research, Institute for Medical Research Israel Canada, Hebrew University Medical School, 91120, Jerusalem,Israel
Keywords:
Neutrophils, cancer, metastasis, inflammation, neutrophils, tumor.
Abstract: Neutrophils are the most abundant population of white blood cells in the human circulation playing a
critical role in inflammation and in host defense against microbial infections. In recent years there has been growing
interest in understanding the role the tumor microenvironment plays in tumor growth and progression. In this
context, the role neutrophils play has been a matter of debate as neutrophils were shown to possess both tumor
promoting and tumor limiting properties. These conflicting observations stem from differences in how neutrophils
respond to environmental cues as well as from the existence of distinct tumor-promoting and tumor-limiting
neutrophil populations. Here, we review general aspects of neutrophil biology and the favorable functions of
neutrophils in the primary tumor and the pre-metastatic microenvironment. We further discuss the mechanisms
neutrophils employ to limit tumor progression and highlight the aspects of neutrophil biology that may be targeted
in future neutrophil-based cancer immunotherapies.
