Macrophages May Hold the Key in the Fight Against Cancer: They Consume Inflammatory Cells and Eliminate Emerging Cancer Cells.
For a long time, scientists have been unable to answer one of the biggest questions about cancer: “Why does the disease almost exclusively target middle-aged or older individuals?” In the early years of life, a person’s risk of dying in a car accident is twice that of dying from cancer. However, this statistic shifts dramatically as they enter middle age. “Inflammation leads to cancer; 90% of all cancers appear after the age of 50,” says Dr. James DeGregori, Deputy Director of the University of Colorado Cancer Center.
Many hypotheses have been proposed for why the body can no longer naturally prevent cancer after the age of 50. Some suggest that cellular damage accumulates, while others believe that the immune system loses some of its strength. However, recent studies have identified another culprit that promotes cancer: inflammation, specifically inflammatory agents.
“This is a new factor that has been thoroughly examined in the aging process, contributing to an increased risk of cancer in older adults,” says Dr. Brian Brown, Director of the Icahn Genomics Institute at Mount Sinai University.
In essence, inflammation is a beneficial phenomenon, part of the immune response, which prevents infections. When the body is healthy, the immune system can fend off infections and eliminate cancer cells before it halts its activities. But this changes as people age. After the age of 40, the body struggles to reduce inflammation. Chronic inflammation keeps the immune system in a state of heightened alertness, making it difficult to detect and effectively attack cancer cells.
Illustration of cancer cells multiplying in the body. (Photo: Adobe Stock)
The Key to Fighting Cancer May Be Macrophages
One of the most promising studies regarding inflammation and cancer involves macrophages. These are white blood cells that play a vital role in the immune system, protecting the body from pathogens.
Recent studies show that cancer stimulates the production of more macrophages, inhibiting inflammation and promoting tumor growth. Discovering how to control and redirect macrophages could profoundly impact cancer treatment, and even aging.
Yara Abdou, an Associate Professor of Oncology at the University of North Carolina, has explored methods to “trick macrophages into thinking that cancer is an invading pathogen.” They create macrophages that can identify cancer targets. When these macrophages encounter tumors, they consume cancer cells and inflammatory cells within the tumor, allowing the patient’s immune cells to attack the cancer.
The research is still in its early stages, but the results are “very promising.” “We have generated macrophages from patients with advanced cancer. After just one dose of macrophages, the malignant lesions shrank,” says Associate Professor Abdou.
The researchers focus on patients with breast, ovarian, and esophageal cancers, with the potential to expand treatments to other cancer types. Dr. Brown notes that there is also a certain connection between aging and inflammation. Understanding the role of inflammation in age-related diseases not only proves effective in the fight against cancer but may also offer treatments for cardiovascular diseases, Alzheimer’s, and arthritis.
