Tumor-associated monocytic cells (TAMs) are a major component of the stroma responsible for tumor formation. TAMs generate various kinds of mediators for their function, one of which is thymidine phosphorylase (TP). TP is an angiogenic enzyme that is known to be up-regulated in tumor tissues. Here, we focused on the clinical implication of TP expression in TAMs by studying 229 primary breast ca...

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are essential cellular components within tumor microenvironment (TME). TAMs are educated by TME to transform to M2 polarized population, showing a M2-like phenotype, IL-10(high), IL-12(low), TGF-β(high). STAT3 signaling triggers crosstalk between tumor cells and TAMs, and is crucial for the regulation of malignant progression. In our study, legumain-targeting...

Tumor vascularization is a highly complex process that involves the interaction between tumors and their surrounding stroma, as well as many distinct angiogenesis-regulating factors. Tumor associated macrophages (TAMs) represent one of the most abundant cell components in the tumor environment and key contributors to cancer-related inflammation. A large body of evidence supports the notion that...

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) play an important role in cancer cell survival, however, the mechanism of which remains elusive. In this study, we found that COX-2 was abundantly expressed in breast TAMs, which was correlated to poor prognosis in breast cancer patients. Ectopic over-expression of COX-2 in TAMs enhanced breast cancer cell survival both in vitro and in vivo. COX-2 in TAMs was...

Macrophages play a pivotal role in tumor microenvironment. Bu-Fei Decoction (BFD) is a classical formula of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) to alleviate lung cancer related symptoms, whether it has antitumor effect or could influence cancer microenvironment deserves further study. The aim of the present study was to examine the antitumor effect of BFD on non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), a...

Endostatin recently was reported by our laboratory to possess ATPase activity that is indispensable for its anti-angiogenesis and anti-tumor effects. An engineered endostatin, E-M, which owns higher ATPase activity exhibits stronger inhibitory effects on angiogenesis. Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), especially M2-polarized TAMs, contribute to tumor progression by promoting tumor cell proli...

Kindlin-2 is a novel focal adhesion gene mediating the cell-extracellular matrix (ECM) adhesion. Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) play an important role in linking chronic inflammation to cancer progression. Both kindlin-2 and TAMs have been found to promote the invasion of gastric cancer cells in our previous studies. However, the correlation ...

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are a major component of the cancer microenvironment. Modulation of TAMs is under intense investigation because they are thought to be nearly always of the M2 subtype, which supports tumor growth. Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) is the most common human sarcoma and typically results from an activating mutation in the KIT oncogene. Using a spontaneous mo...

To identify the molecular basis underlying the functions of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), we characterized the gene expression profile of TAMs isolated from a murine fibrosarcoma in comparison with peritoneal macrophages (PECs) and myeloid suppressor cells (MSCs), using a cDNA microarray technology. Among the differentially expressed genes, 15 genes relevant to inflammation and immunity ...

According to established notion, one of the major angiogenesis-inducing factors, pro-matrix metalloproteinase-9 (proMMP-9), is supplied to the tumor microenvironment by tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs). Accumulated evidence, however, indicates that tumor-associated neutrophils (TANs) are also critically important for proMMP-9 delivery, especially at early stages of tumor development. To clar...