Tumor microenvironment and immune microenvironment (TME (for tumor microenvironment); TIME (for tumor immune microenvironment))

The **tumor microenvironment (TME)**—or more generally, the **immune and tissue microenvironment**—is a dynamic, complex network surrounding a tumor or tissue, composed of cancer cells, immune cells (e.g., T cells, B cells, macrophages, NK cells, dendritic cells), stromal cells (e.g., fibroblasts), blood vessels, lymphatics, extracellular matrix components, and signaling molecules. The TME is highly heterogeneous and plays a critical role in tumor initiation, progression, metastasis, immune evasion, and therapy resistance. Interactions within the microenvironment affect the biology of cancer cells as well as responses to therapeutic intervention, making individual components of the TME attractive therapeutic targets, but the environment itself is not a discrete molecular entity and cannot be directly targeted with a specific drug.

Other names

Tissue microenvironmentTumor microenvironmentImmune microenvironmentTMETIME