Colorectal carcinoma (CRC) is one of the most common forms of malignancy in the Western world. Accumulating evidence indicates that colon carcinogenesis is tightly controlled by tumour-associated immune cells and stromal cells, which can either stimulate or suppress CRC cell growth and survival, mainly via the production of cytokines. Interleukin-34 (IL-34), a cytokine known to regulate mainly monocyte/macrophage survival and function, is highly produced within the CRC microenvironment by several cell types, including cancer cells, tumour-associated macrophages (TAMs) and cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), and regulates the pro-tumoural functions of such cells. In this article, we summarize the available data supporting the multiple effects of IL-34 in human CRC.

结直肠癌（CRC）是西方世界最常见的恶性肿瘤之一。越来越多的证据表明，结肠癌的发生受到肿瘤相关免疫细胞和基质细胞的严格控制，它们主要通过细胞因子的产生来刺激或抑制结直肠癌细胞的生长和存活。白细胞介素 34 (IL-34) 是一种已知主要调节单核细胞/巨噬细胞存活和功能的细胞因子，在 CRC 微环境中由多种细胞类型大量产生，包括癌细胞、肿瘤相关巨噬细胞 (TAM) 和癌症相关成纤维细胞（CAF），并调节此类细胞的促肿瘤功能。在本文中，我们总结了支持 IL-34 对人类 CRC 多种作用的可用数据。