Skip to main content

REVIEW article

Front. Immunol.
Sec. Cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1530890
This article is part of the Research Topic Roles of Macrophages and Monocytes in Resistance to Immunotherapy in Cancers View all articles

Insights into CSF-1/CSF-1R signaling: the role of macrophage in radiotherapy

Provisionally accepted
Qingchao Shang Qingchao Shang 1Pei Zhang Pei Zhang 1Xiao Lei Xiao Lei 1Lehui Du Lehui Du 1Baolin Qu Baolin Qu 1,2*
  • 1 The First Medical Center of the Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China
  • 2 Baolin Qu, Beijing, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Macrophage plays an important role in homeostasis and immunity, and dysfunctional macrophage polarization is believed to be associated with the pathogenesis of tissue fibrosis and tumor progression. Colony stimulating factor-1 (CSF-1), a polypeptide chain cytokine, through its receptor (CSF-1R) regulates the differentiation of macrophages. Recently, the promising therapeutic potential of CSF-1/CSF-1R signaling pathway inhibition in cancer treatment is widely used. Furthermore, inhibition of CSF-1/CSF-1R signaling combined with radiotherapy has been extensively studied to reduce immunosuppression and promote abscopal effect. In addition, cumulative evidence demonstrated that M2 phenotype macrophage is dominant in tissue fibrosis and the inhibition of CSF-1/CSF-1R signaling pathway ameliorated pulmonary fibrosis, including radiation-induced lung fibrosis. Herein, we provide a comprehensive review of the CSF-1/CSF-1R signaling pathway in radiotherapy, with a focus on advances in macrophage-targeted strategies in the treatment of cancer and pulmonary fibrosis.

    Keywords: CSF-1, macrophage, Radiotherapy, Radiation-induced pulmonary fibrosis (RIPF), tumor associate macrophages (TAM)

    Received: 19 Nov 2024; Accepted: 13 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Shang, Zhang, Lei, Du and Qu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Baolin Qu, Baolin Qu, Beijing, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.