中性粒细胞是机体外周血中数量最多的白细胞,在人体非特异性免疫系统中发挥着十分重要的作用.早期的研究认为,中性粒细胞能通过分泌细胞因子和产生活性氧等物质杀伤肿瘤.然而随着研究的深入,发现肿瘤微环境中的中性粒细胞对肿瘤的发展起到促进的作用.浸润性中性粒细胞产生的细胞因子和趋化因子能影响肿瘤微环境中炎症细胞的招募和激活,为肿瘤的发展提供良好的免疫抑制微环境,调控肿瘤的生长、转移和血管生成,还在肿瘤患者预后评估方面发挥着重要的作用.
Neutrophils account for the largest proportion of white cells in peripheral blood,and play important roles in human nonspecific immunity.Previous studies have shown that neutrophils kill tumor cells through secreting cytokines and reactive oxygen species.However,further studies provide compelling evidence that neutrophils in tumor microenvironment could promote tumor progression.Tumor infiltrating neutrophils produce cytokines and chemokines that provide an immunosuppressive microenvironment for tumor progression and regulate the growth and metastasis of tumor cells and angiogenesis by influencing the recruitment and activation of inflammatory cells in tumor microenvironment.Tumor infiltrating neutrophils is also essential for prognosis of patients with malignant tumor.