Neutrophils are the most abundant myeloid cells in human blood and are emerging as important regulators of cancer. However, their functional importance has often been overlooked on the basis that they are short-lived, terminally differentiated and non-proliferative. Recent studies of their prominent roles in cancer have led to a paradigm shift in our appreciation of neutrophil functional diversity. This Review describes how neutrophil diversification, which in some contexts can lead to opposing functions, is generated within the tumour microenvironment as well as systemically. We compare neutrophil heterogeneity in cancer and in other pathophysiological contexts to provide an updated overview of our current knowledge of the functions of neutrophils in cancer.

中性粒细胞是人体血液中最丰富的骨髓细胞，正在成为癌症的重要调节因子。然而，由于它们寿命短、终末分化和非增殖性，它们的功能重要性常常被忽视。最近关于它们在癌症中的重要作用的研究导致我们对中性粒细胞功能多样性的认识发生了范式转变。这篇综述描述了在某些情况下会导致相反功能的中性粒细胞多样化是如何在肿瘤微环境中以及系统地产生的。我们比较了癌症和其他病理生理学背景下的中性粒细胞异质性，以提供我们目前对中性粒细胞在癌症中的功能的最新了解。