Macrophage Regulation of the Tumor Microenvironment in Metastatic Melanoma
Abstract
More than 7,000 patients will die from melanoma in the US this year. It is therefore critical that we design new therapies to treat and prevent the spread of melanoma from the skin. How melanoma spreads to lymph nodes (LNs) and other organs is not known. We suspect that immune cells, specifically macrophages, migrate from the primary tumor to help melanoma develop secondary tumors in LNs. Our hypothesis is that macrophages from the primary melanoma travel to LNs and alter cells there to suppress the immune response to cancer. The purpose of this is to improve our understanding of lymphatic spread of melanoma and inform drug development to target tumor-promoting macrophages. Using a mouse model of melanoma, we are testing the hypothesis that macrophages from the primary tumor alter the expression of genes of immune cells in the LN. Thus far, we have validated our model for macrophage trafficking and are optimizing our read-out for assessing the impact of macrophage depletion on the melanoma LN metastases.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2023
- Accession Number
- AD1216890
Entities
People
- Ashley M. Holder
Organizations
- The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center