Innate Immune Cells in Non‐Small Cell Lung Cancer: Roles in Tumor Progression and Therapeutic Responses

As a leading cause of cancer‐related morbidity and mortality worldwide, non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is profoundly influenced by innate immune cells (IICs). In addition to serving as key mediators of antimicrobial defense and adaptive immune activation, IICs exert pivotal and multifaceted influences on the initiation, progression, and therapeutic responses of NSCLC. This review integrates current knowledge on the classification, phenotypic plasticity, and functions of IICs, as well as their crosstalk within the tumor microenvironment in NSCLC, summarizes therapeutic strategies targeting IICs, and discusses the existing challenges and future perspectives in NSCLC immunotherapy, to provide theoretical references for the immunotherapy of NSCLC.