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Updated: Feb 24, 2026

Neutrophil Isolation and Analysis to Determine their Role in Lymphoma Cell Sensitivity to Therapeutic Agents
Published on: March 25, 2016
Neutrophils in cancer: prognostic role and therapeutic strategies
Alberto Ocana1, Cristina Nieto-Jiménez2, Atanasio Pandiella3
1Medical Oncology Department, Albacete University Hospital and Translational Research Unit, Albacete, Spain. albertoo@sescam.jccm.es.
Abstract:
Expression of high levels of immune cells including neutrophils has been associated with detrimental outcome in several solid tumors and new strategies to decrease their presence and activity are currently under clinical development. Here, we review some of the relevant literature of the role of neutrophils in different stages of the oncogenic process including tumor initiation, growth, proliferation or metastatic spreading and also focus on how neutrophil counts or the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio may be used as a prognostic and predictive biomarker. Strategies to avoid the deleterious effects of neutrophils in cancer and to reduce their activity are discussed. Examples for such strategies include inhibition of CXCR1 and CXCR2 to decrease migration of neutrophils to tumoral areas or the inhibition of granulocyte colony stimulating factor to decrease the amount of neutrophils which has shown efficacy in preclinical models.
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