Long Non-coding RNAs Regulating Macrophage Polarization in Liver Cancer

Primary liver cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. At present, liver cancer is often in an advanced stage once diagnosed, and treatment effects are generally poor. Therefore, there is an urgent need for other powerful treatments. Macrophages are an important component of the tumor microenvironment, and macrophage polarization is crucial to tumor proliferation and differentiation. Regulatory interactions between macrophage subtypes, such as M1 and M2, lead to a number of clinical outcomes, including tumor progression and metastasis. So, it is important to study the drivers of this process. Long non-coding RNA has been widely proven to be of great value in the early diagnosis and treatment of tumors. Many studies have shown that long non-coding RNA participates in macrophage polarization through its ability to drive M1 or M2 polarization, thereby participating in the occurrence and development of liver cancer. In this article, we systematically elaborated on the long non-coding RNAs involved in the polarization of liver cancer macrophages, hoping to provide a new idea for the early diagnosis and treatment of liver cancer. Liver cancer- related studies were retrieved from PubMed. Based on our identification of lncRNA and macrophage polarization as powerful therapies for liver cancer, we analyzed research articles in the PubMed system in the last ten years on the crosstalk between lncRNA and macrophage polarization. By targeting M1/M2 macrophage polarization, lncRNA may promote or suppress liver cancer, and the references are determined primarily by the article's impact factor. Consequently, the specific mechanism of action between lncRNA and M1/M2 macrophage polarization was explored, along with the role of their crosstalk in the occurrence, proliferation, and metastasis of liver cancer. LncRNA is bidirectionally expressed in liver cancer and can target macrophage polarization to regulate tumor behavior. LncRNA mainly functions as ceRNA and can participate in the crosstalk between liver cancer cells and macrophages through extracellular vesicles. LncRNA can potentially participate in the immunotherapy of liver cancer by targeting macrophages and becoming a new biomolecular marker of liver cancer.