Authors: Yoshihiro Mezawa Akira Orimo
Publish Date: 2016/08/10
Volume: 365, Issue: 3, Pages: 675-689
Abstract
Carcinomaassociated fibroblasts CAFs constitute a substantial proportion of the nonneoplastic mesenchymal cell compartment in various human tumors These fibroblasts are phenotypically converted from their progenitors via interactions with nearby cancer cells during the course of tumor progression The resulting CAFs in turn support the growth and progression of carcinoma cells These fibroblasts have a major influence on the hallmarks of carcinoma and promote tumor malignancy through the secretion of tumorpromoting growth factors cytokines and exosomes as well as through the remodeling of the extracellular matrix Coevolution of CAFs and carcinoma cells during tumorigenesis is therefore essential for progression into fully malignant tumors Recent studies have revealed the molecular mechanisms underlying CAF functions especially in tumor invasion metastasis and drug resistance and have highlighted the significant heterogeneity among these cells In this review we summarize the impacts of recently identified roles of tumorpromoting CAFs and discuss the therapeutic implications of targeting the heterotypic interactions of these fibroblasts with carcinoma cellsThe authors apologize to researchers whose work is not cited due to space limitations We gratefully acknowledge GrantsinAid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education Culture Sports Science and Technology Japan Research Project Number 24300332 25640069 and 15K14385 to AO and a GrantinAid S1311011 from the Foundation of Strategic Research Projects in Private Universities from the MEXT Japan AO for funding
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