This is how lung cancer tricks immune cells into spreading the tumor

A new study has found that lung cancer can trick immune system cells into helping tumors invade the organ.

They found that early-stage lung cancer tumors search for macrophages, which are white blood cells that protect the immune system and repair tissue.

The team, from Icahn College of Medicine in Mount Sinai, New York, says the findings could help scientists develop drugs that target this process and prevent patients from developing metastatic cancer.

According to the British "Daily Mail" and "Russia Today".

Lung cancers usually begin in the cells lining the bronchi, which are tubes that enter the lungs, or in the tiny air sacs known as alveoli.

 The team looked at lung tissue and lung cancer tumors in 35 patients.

Researchers know that macrophages play a large role in shaping the so-called tumor microenvironment, or the ecosystem that surrounds tumors in the body.

However, until now, it was not understood how it drove tumor growth.

They found that tissue-resident macrophages that reside in the lungs accumulate near cancer cells during the early stages of tumor formation.

However, cancer cells take over and trick immune cells into thinking they are healthy cells.

The macrophages then allow the tumors to harm cells or tissues that they normally repair.

The team says the findings will teach doctors to develop drugs that target macrophages so they don't allow cancer cells to deceive themselves.

This will reduce the number of patients who relapse and increase overall survival rates.

These findings will help devise immunoprotective strategies to prevent tumor development in high-risk patients by reprogramming macrophages and killing the tumor without surgery.

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