Table 1 Outstanding questions
From: Microglia and metastases to the central nervous system: victim, ravager, or something else?
1) Why do some tumors preferentially colonize specific organs (e.g. brain)? |
2) Is the microglia response to infiltrating metastatic cancer cells specific to the tumor type? |
3) Is the microglia pro-inflammatory signature an anti-tumor immune response, or is it exploited by metastatic tumor cells to promote their colonization and growth in brain? |
4) What are the microglia long-term effects on the metastatic disease progression? |
5) Does cytokine level influence differently microglia in patient with CNS metastases compared with patients with CNS inflammatory diseases? |
6) How can metastatic cancer cells escape the microglia surveillance and colonize the CNS microenvironment? |
7) How do microglia respond to immune checkpoint-targeted therapy? |