Lung tumor immunity: redirecting macrophages through infection-induced inflammation

Macrophages play a central role in maintaining tissue homeostasis and in surveillance against pathogens and disease. In the lung, they can adopt either proinflammatory or anti-inflammatory states depending on the nature of the stimulus. As the predominant immune cells in both the lung tumor microenvironment and in sites of lung infection, the functional plasticity of macrophages makes them key players in determining disease outcome. Accurately defining their inflammatory profiles offers an opportunity to reprogram infection-associated macrophages towards enhanced tumor-killing phenotypes. This review explores how acute inflammation can drive macrophage-mediated antitumor immunity and highlights key molecules and signaling pathways that may be leveraged to therapeutically modulate macrophage function.