Advance of nano anticancer therapies targeted on tumor-associated macrophages

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) are a large part of solid tumors and are an essential part of the tumor microenvironment, which can promote tumor growth, stimulate angiogenesis, and inhibit the immune response. The use of TAM as a therapeutic target to achieve the rational distribution of carriers in tumors and effectively inhibit tumors is the critical research direction of precise treatment pharmaceuticals. Therefore, it is imperative to realize the specific role of TAM in immune escape, which may also help to evaluate targeted TAM in the clinic. This article reviews how TAM can instigate different immune cells to participate in tumorigenesis and affect macrophage polarization factors. Meanwhile, the action of different nano-drug targeting TAMs and the relevant clinical trials currently underway have also been reviewed, which may offer promising platforms for the effective treatment of multiple clinical immune targets of tumors.