The involvement of tumor‑associated macrophages in tumor progression is an indisputable fact. However, whether the growth‑promotion effects of macrophages towards tumors in the aggressive stage affect their own canceration remains unknown. In the present study, human glioma stem/progenitor cells transfected with red fluorescent protein gene (SU3‑RFP) were seeded inside the abdominal cavity of transgenic nude mice, of which all nucleated cells could express green fluorescent protein (GFP), forming a tumor model with a double‑color RFP/GFP fluorescent tracer. Ascites and tumor nodules from tumor‑bearing mice were cultured, then the GFP+ cells were separated for clonal culture and further related phenotypic characterization and tumorigenicity tests. It was observed that the GFP+ cells isolated from ascites and solid tumors exhibited unlimited proliferative potential; the monoclonal cells were mouse‑original, had a cancer cell phenotype and expressed the macrophage marker protein CD68. Thus, in the abdominal tumor model with double‑color fluorescent tracer, macrophages recruited by tumor cells not only promoted tumor cell growth, but also exhibited their own canceration. This discovery is significant for the further study of tumor tissue remodeling and the tumor microenvironment.