# Understanding the Role of Macrophages and Iron in the Tumor Microenvironment

> **NIH NIH F30** · PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV HERSHEY MED CTR · 2022 · $51,752

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
 Glioblastoma is one of the most aggressive and hard to treat human cancers facing modern medicine.
The current standard of care for a new diagnosis of glioblastoma consists of surgical resection followed by a six
and half weeklong course of concomitant chemo-radiation and another six-month-long course of adjuvant
chemotherapy. Despite this aggressive and grueling treatment regimen, the majority of patients will suffer from
tumor recurrence and nearly 90% will pass away within 5 years of initial diagnosis. These dismal survival rates
indicate that glioblastoma possess mechanisms to resist current treatments.
 In recent years, the tumor microenvironment has increasingly been recognized for the essential role it
plays in supporting cancer cells. Macrophages play a particularly important role in the tumor microenvironment
both in terms of volume and function. These cells impact multiple aspects of the tumor microenvironment
including suppressing anti-tumor immunity and controlling iron metabolism within the tumor niche. Iron is an
essential nutrient required by cancer cells to fuel their proliferation. Without iron, cancer cells cannot proliferate.
It is currently unknown how treatment with radiation and chemotherapy impact iron metabolism within
macrophages and other infiltrating immune cells within the tumor microenvironment of glioblastoma. Aim 1 of
this project will elucidate how iron metabolism is altered as a result of radiation and chemotherapy and will
correlate these alterations to changes in anti-tumor immunity. Aim 2 of this project will study how intravenously
delivered iron compounds impact iron metabolism and immune function within macrophages and other key
immune cells within the tumor microenvironment. Additionally, aim 2 will investigate how administration of IV iron
alters the vasculature within the tumor microenvironment. Anemia is a common co-morbidity among cancer
patients that is frequently corrected with intravenous iron. Despite this, little is known regarding the effects of IV
iron on the above-mentioned important aspects of the tumor microenvironment. This project will deepen our
understanding of how treatments with chemotherapy, radiation, and supporting intravenous iron impact tumors
with the hopes of identifying iron-based mechanisms of treatment resistance. Importantly, advances in iron
supplements, chelators, and gene therapies make iron-based mechanisms of treatment resistance promising
clinical targets to improve our current standard of care for glioblastoma.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10388113
- **Project number:** 5F30CA250193-02
- **Recipient organization:** PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV HERSHEY MED CTR
- **Principal Investigator:** Ganesh J Shenoy
- **Activity code:** F30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $51,752
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-05-01 → 2023-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10388113

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10388113, Understanding the Role of Macrophages and Iron in the Tumor Microenvironment (5F30CA250193-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10388113. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*