Neutrophils represent the most abundant leukocyte population in human peripheral blood, and their role had long been considered restricted to their phagocytic and antimicrobial activities during the acute phase of inflammation. However, an increasing number of recent investigations had highlighted their possible impact in tumor initiation and development, and the nature of neutrophil contribution in cancer had become a hot topic in immunology. Over the years, neutrophils have been shown to display both pro-tumor and antitumor effects, emphasizing an unexpected cellular heterogeneity in cancer. In this review, we will focus on the several ‘shades’ of neutrophils in tumor initiation, growth and metastasis. In addition, we will discuss the clinical significance of tumor-associated neutrophils in humans and their potential targeting in cancer therapy.
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Cover Image
Cover Image
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Close ModalMapping gene signatures according to their expression in different immune landscapes of breast (BRCA), lung (LUAD) and colon (COAD) carcinoma, and melanoma (SKCM); signatures selectively expressed in the immune-active (ICR4) landscape are shown in red, those selectively expressed in the immune-silent (ICR1) landscape are shown as blue and those that are ubiquitously expressed independent of immune landscape are white. The image is based on Figure 1 in this issue's opening article (Lu et al., pages 411–419) in which the authors look at how cancer cells go through a conserved evolutionary bottleneck facing a Two-Option Choice to evade recognition by the immune competent host: they can either adopt a clean oncogenic process devoid of immunogenic stimuli (immune-silent tumors) or display an entropic biology prone to immune recognition (immune-active tumors).
Dissecting neutrophil complexity in cancer
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