Journal of International Obstetrics and Gynecology ›› 2022, Vol. 49 ›› Issue (6): 621-625.doi: 10.12280/gjfckx.20220189

• Research on Gynecological Malignancies: Review • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Research Progress of Targeting Tumor-Associated Macrophages Therapy for Ovarian Cancer

ZHENG Jia-hui1, LIN Yan1, CHEN Qiao-fen1, WANG Xue-feng1()   

  1. School of Traditional Chinese Medicine(ZHANG Jia-hui), The First School of Clinical Medicine(LIN Yan, CHEN Qiao-fen), Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510630, China (WANG Xue-feng)
  • Received:2022-03-17 Published:2022-12-15 Online:2023-01-11
  • Contact: WANG Xue-feng E-mail:douwangxuefeng@163.com

Abstract:

Ovarian cancer (OC) remains the leading cause of death in gynecologic malignancies. Immune factors play an important role in its occurrence and development. Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are important immune cells in the tumor microenvironment of OC, which can secrete a variety of cytokines to promote proliferation of cancers, angiogenesis and immunosuppression, playing an important role in the progress of OC. Therefore, targeted TAMs in the treatment of OC has become a research focus. The specific treatment strategies include blocking recruitment of TAMs, enhancing phagocytosis of TAMs, depleting TAMs, converting M2 TAMs to M1 TAMs or inhibiting M2 polarization of macrophages, blocking interactions between TAMs and OC. Numerous basic studies have confirmed that chemotherapeutic drugs, immune checkpoint blockers, nano-drugs and traditional Chinese medicines modulate TAMs to treat or synergistically treat OC to a certain extent. The principle and therapeutic progress of targeting TAMs in the treatment of OC will be reviewed, in order to provide reference for further researches and clinical applications.

Key words: Ovarian neoplasms, Macrophages, Phenotype, Molecular targeted therapy, Immunity, cellular