IMMUNOLOGY2025™ Conference Recordings-Lung cancer in female never smokers: are pulmonary macrophages to blame?

Lung cancer in female never smokers: are pulmonary macrophages to blame? - Adam Soloff

Video Transcription

Video Summary

The speaker, Adam Soloff of the University of Pittsburgh, described research on why lung cancer is increasingly affecting never-smokers, especially younger women. He argued that environmental exposures—notably particulate matter, diesel exhaust, and pesticides—may reprogram lung macrophages, the immune cells that normally maintain tissue balance. Using geographic exposure data, mouse models, and patient samples, his team found that high pollution exposure raises lung cancer risk, with women showing about double the risk of men in one analysis. In mice, exposures caused persistent lung inflammation, impaired macrophage digestion, oxidative stress, fibrosis, and long-lasting epigenetic changes. Female macrophages showed pathways linked to cancer and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, while male macrophages leaned toward tissue necrosis or acute inflammation. The team also found that a metabolic drug, ACAR, could partially restore macrophage function. Overall, the work suggests environmental insults can “train” lung macrophages in sex-specific ways that may promote cancer.

Keywords

lung cancer

never-smokers

environmental exposure

lung macrophages

air pollution

sex-specific risk