Microglia statuses in Alzheimer’s disease and lessons from anti-tumor microglia

Julia Y. Cai

1,2,3

Yellamandayya Vadlamudi

Praveen Agrawal

1,*

*Correspondence to: Praveen Agrawal, Department of Molecular Pharmacology, Montefiore Einstein Comprehensive Cancer Center (MECCC), Cancer Dormancy Institute (CDI), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA. E-mail: praveen.agrawal@einsteinmed.edu

Geromedicine. 2026;2:202613. 10.70401/Geromedicine.2026.0033

Received: March 04, 2026Accepted: July 27, 2026Published: July 27, 2026

This manuscript is made available in its unedited form to allow early access to the reported findings. Further editing will be completed before final publication. As such, the content may include errors, and standard legal disclaimers are applicable.

Abstract

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related dementias are closely associated with alterations in microglial states. These microglial changes occur in response to amyloid-β (Aβ) accumulation and aberrant tau phosphorylation and can either protect against or exacerbate AD progression, depending on factors such as disease stage, genetic background, and environmental influences. This review focuses on recent advances in understanding the protective functions and features of microglia during the early stages of AD, while highlighting the outstanding questions regarding how these protective states deteriorate and become dysfunctional as the disease progresses. Interestingly, epidemiological studies have suggested an inverse relationship between AD and cancer incidence, and in this context we provide a comparative analysis of microglial phenotypes in AD and cancer to speculate how insights from anti-tumor microglia may inspire new strategies for reprogramming microglia to combat AD and related dementias.

Keywords

Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, microglia, cancer, neuroimmune, therapeutics

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Cai JY, Vadlamudi Y, Agrawal P. Microglia statuses in Alzheimer’s disease and lessons from anti-tumor microglia. Geromedicine. 2026;2:202613. https://doi.org/10.70401/Geromedicine.2026.0033

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Geromedicine

Microglia statuses in Alzheimer’s disease and lessons from anti-tumor microglia

Julia Y. Cai

Yellamandayya Vadlamudi

Praveen Agrawal

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Microglia statuses in Alzheimer’s disease and lessons from anti-tumor microglia

Julia Y. Cai

Yellamandayya Vadlamudi

Praveen Agrawal

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