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Abstract
Inflammation predisposes to the development of cancer and promotes all stages of tumorigenesis.
Cancer cells as well as surrounding stromal and inflammatory cells engage in well-orchestrated
reciprocal interactions to form an inflammatory tumor microenvironment (TME). Cells
within the TME are highly plastic, continuously changing their phenotypic and functional
characteristics. Here we review the origins of inflammation in tumors, and the mechanisms
whereby inflammation drives tumor initiation, growth, progression and metastasis.
We discuss how tumor promoting inflammation closely resembles inflammatory processes
typically found during development, immunity, maintenance of tissue homeostasis or
tissue repair, and illuminate the distinctions between tissue-protective and pro-tumorigenic
inflammation, including spatio-temporal considerations. Defining the cornerstone rules
of engagement governing molecular and cellular mechanisms of tumor-promoting inflammation
will be essential for the further development of anti-cancer therapies. Grivennikov
and Greten review the mechanisms underlying the initiation of pro-tumorigenic inflammatory
responses, how these evolve throughout the different stages of tumor development and
the plasticity of the cells within the tumor microenvironment.