Tumor treatment strategies involving the remodeling of macrophages

The tumor microenvironment (TME) can induce macrophage differentiation, in which macrophages can differentiate into classical activated type (M1 phenotype) and alternative activated type (M2 phenotype), and a large number of activated macrophages infiltrate the tumor strome, which is called tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs). At present, it is generally believed that M1 TAMs could activate tumor immunity and play an anti-tumor role, while M2 TAMs could inhibit tumor immunity and promote tumor progress. Therefore, the purpose of tumor immunotherapy can be achieved by depleting M2 macrophages or remodeling the polarity of macrophages. However, depleting macrophages may promote the immune escape of tumor cells, and remodeling the polarity of macrophage has shown greater potential in tumor immunotherapy. This paper reviews the updated research progress on the use of remodeled macrophages in cancer therapy.