Characterization of monocytes influence in human skin melanoma

Tumor cells attract and dynamically interact with monocytes/macrophages, one of the more abundant cell types in the tumor microenvironment, to subvert their differentiation into tumor associated macrophages (TAMs), which mainly promote immunosuppression and neoplastic progression, but the mechanisms governing their protumoral activity are not completely understood. Thus, identifying molecular pathways promoted by monocytes that could be responsible for immune evasion and tumor malignicity may provide new therapeutic targets to improve the efficacy of immunotherapy of cancer.