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Tumor necrosis factor reduces brain tumor growth by
enhancing macrophage recruitment and microcyst formation
Villeneuve J, Tremblay P, Vallieres L
Department of Oncology and Molecular Endocrinology, Laval University
Hospital Research Center, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.
Luc.Vallieres@crchul.ulaval.ca
Recent findings implicate macrophages and some of their secreted products,
especially tumor necrosis factor (TNF), as tumor promoters.
Inhibitors of
these inflammatory components are currently regarded as potential
therapeutic tools to block tumor progression.
Here, we show that
infiltrating macrophages represented a significant population of
nonneoplastic cells within malignant gliomas, in which they were the
exclusive producers of TNF.
Contrary to the reported pro-oncogenic effects
of TNF in other types of solid tumors, glioma-bearing mice deficient in TNF
developed larger tumors and had reduced survival compared with their
wild-type controls.
Histologic examinations revealed that glioma volume was
negatively correlated with the number of macrophages and small cavities
called microcysts.
Overall, our results support the concept that macrophages
alter brain tumor development through a TNF-dependent process that
culminates in the formation of microcysts.
This raises the question of
whether anti-inflammatory drugs, such as those commonly administrated to
patients with brain cancer, could interfere with antitumor mechanisms.
PMID: 15867393 [PubMed - in process]
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