{
  "id": 4992053,
  "title": "Highly plastic macrophage niches orchestrate acquired quiescence and reactivation in breast-cancer bone metastasis",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/01/highly-plastic-macrophage-niches-orchestrate-acquired-quiescence-and",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-09-01T00:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "bioRxiv",
    "slug": "biorxiv",
    "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.31.748298v1?rss=1"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Breast cancer recurrence and metastasis are leading causes of cancer-related deaths, driven by therapy-resistant cells. The bone serves as a common site for breast cancer recurrence, but the factors that reawaken these cells remain unclear. Researchers have now identified a unique, adaptable population of CXCL16 macrophages that link distant metastatic sites, such as the lung and brain, with the bone marrow's disease-associated traits. These CXCL16 macrophages create a short-lived niche that inhibits the proliferation of circulating cancer cells.\n\nThrough single-cell transcriptomics, researchers have observed how myeloid niches within the bone metastatic environment adapt: a transient CXCL16 macrophage niche limits metastatic growth, while G-CSF macrophage and neutrophil niches rekindle tumor growth. In primary tumors, cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) secrete excessive amounts of G-CSF, a response triggered by cancer-cell signals. This leads to an expansion of a G-CSF-receptor-positive subset of cancer cells with a high metastatic potential. In advanced human bone metastases, CXCL16 macrophages primarily localize in areas rich with CAFs but avoid cancer-cell clusters, suggesting immune evasion.\n\nThese findings reveal a connection between CAF-bone-marrow interactions, stromal inflammation, immune remodeling, and metastatic progression, potentially making CAFs a promising therapeutic target.",
  "summary": "Recurrence and metastasis remain major causes of cancer mortality, sustained by therapy-resistant micrometastatic cells. Bone is a frequent site of breast-cancer relapse, yet the cues that reawaken disseminated cells remain poorly defined. We identify a previously unrecognized, highly plastic CXCL16 macrophage population that integrates tumor-associated macrophage programs found in distant…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}