It should be urgently better understood of the mechanism that contributes
cancer aggressiveness. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) plays a fundamental role in
tumor progression and
metastasis formation by invasion, resistance to cell death and senescence, resistance to
chemotherapy and
immunotherapy, immune surveillance, immunosuppression and
inflammation, confers stem cell properties. Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are key orchestrators and a set of macrophages in tumor microenvironment. They are major players in the connection between
inflammation and
cancer. TAMs could promote proliferation, invasion and
metastasis of
tumor cells, stimulate
tumor angiogenesis, and inhibit anti-
tumor immune response mediated by T cell followed by promoting
tumor progression. Recently, studies showed that TAMs played critical role in the regulation of EMT in
cancer, although the underlying mechanism of TAMs-mediated acquisition of EMT has been largely unclear. This review will discuss recent advances in our understanding of the role of TAMs in the regulation of EMT during
tumorigenesis and summarize the recent ongoing experimental and pre-clinical TAMs targeted studies.