Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This review focuses on neutrophils and provides a modern answer to the question: why does the bone marrow release 45 billion neutrophils into the bloodstream every day, where they remain for several hours, then migrate into tissues and die within 24 hours? The review discusses neutrophil death pathways, including apoptosis and NETosis. The architecture of epithelial tissue in the normal state and the changes occurring during tumor growth are presented. The most appropriate form of neutrophil cell death in malignant neoplasms is apoptosis, because in this case the cellular contents are not released into the extracellular environment and therefore do not provoke inflammation; instead, apoptosis activates innate lymphoid cells and the adaptive arm of the immune response. One of the functions of the immune system is to maintain homeostasis of both lymphoid and non-lymphoid tissues of the macroorganism. During tumor growth, two competing programs of development and repair coexist: those of normal tissue and tumor tissue. In malignant disease, both mononuclear cells and neutrophils are overloaded with double-stranded nucleic acids. This may interfere with their ability to cross the blood-tissue barrier. The effect of chemotherapy in malignant neoplasms is mediated not only by the direct impact of cytotoxic drugs on malignant cells, but also by their influence on neutrophils, which — through an avalanche of apoptotic bodies — activate both innate and adaptive immunity, thereby restoring damaged tissue architecture.
Source: Herald of Pancreatic Club
Author: Kairyak, O. V.
Institution: Donetsk National Medical University
Language: Ukrainian
Subfield: Immunology
Field: Immunology and Microbiology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7220137054