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Updated: Jan 29, 2026

Quantitation of Intra-peritoneal Ovarian Cancer Metastasis
Published on: July 18, 2016
Neutrophil Degranulation, Plasticity, and Cancer Metastasis
1Laboratory of Cell Death and Cancer Therapy, Department of Molecular Biomedicine, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Calle Ramiro de Maeztu 9, E-28040 Madrid, Spain.
Abstract:
Neutrophils are the first responders to inflammation and infection. Recently, an elevated neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio has generally become a prognostic indicator of poor overall survival in cancer. Accordingly, heterogeneous ill-defined neutrophil-like populations have been increasingly recognized as important players in cancer development. In addition, neutrophil granule proteins released upon cell activation have been associated with tumor progression; this differential granule mobilization may allow neutrophils - and possibly associated cancer cells - to leave the bloodstream and enter inflamed/infected tissues. This review discusses and proposes how granule mobilization may facilitate neutrophil-mediated transport of cancer cells into different tissues as well as leading to different cellular phenotypes that underlie remarkable neutrophil plasticity. This concept might inform novel neutrophil-centered approaches to putative cancer therapies.
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