Open AccessGlial and myeloid heterogeneity in the brain tumour microenvironment
Author(s) -
Brian M. Andersen,
Camilo Faust Akl,
Michael A. Wheeler,
E. Antonio Chiocca,
David A. Reardon,
Francisco J. Quintana
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
nature reviews. cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 19.575
H-Index - 442
eISSN - 1474-1768
pISSN - 1474-175X
DOI - 10.1038/s41568-021-00397-3
Subject(s) - microglia , immune system , glioma , tumor microenvironment , myeloid , biology , neuroscience , disease , myeloid cells , immunology , medicine , cancer research , pathology , inflammation
Brain cancers carry bleak prognoses, with therapeutic advances helping only a minority of patients over the past decade. The brain tumour microenvironment (TME) is highly immunosuppressive and differs from that of other malignancies as a result of the glial, neural and immune cell populations that constitute it. Until recently, the study of the brain TME was limited by the lack of methods to de-convolute this complex system at the single-cell level. However, novel technical approaches have begun to reveal the immunosuppressive and tumour-promoting properties of distinct glial and myeloid cell populations in the TME, identifying new therapeutic opportunities. Here, we discuss the immune modulatory functions of microglia, monocyte-derived macrophages and astrocytes in brain metastases and glioma, highlighting their disease-associated heterogeneity and drawing from the insights gained by studying these malignancies and other neurological disorders. Lastly, we consider potential approaches for the therapeutic modulation of the brain TME.