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PMID: 24734219 Published · epublish English Journal Article Review

Cancer-associated fibroblasts as another polarized cell type of the tumor microenvironment.

Frontiers in oncology ·Vol. 4 ·2014-00-00 ·Pages 62

Augsten M

Abstract

Tumor- or cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are one of the most abundant stromal cell types in different carcinomas and comprise a heterogeneous cell population. Classically, CAFs are assigned with pro-tumorigenic effects stimulating tumor growth and progression. More recent studies demonstrated also tumor-inhibitory effects of CAFs suggesting that tumor-residing fibroblasts exhibit a similar degree of plasticity as other stromal cell types. Reciprocal interactions with the tumor milieu and different sources of origin are emerging as two important factors underlying CAF heterogeneity. This review highlights recent advances in our understanding of CAF biology and proposes to expand the term of cellular "polarization," previously introduced to describe different activation states of various immune cells, onto CAFs to reflect their phenotypic diversity.

Keywords
cancer cancer-associated fibroblasts polarization tumor microenvironment tumor promotion tumor suppression
Authors & Affiliations
1 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Augsten Martin
Department of Oncology-Pathology, Cancer Center Karolinska, Karolinska Institutet , Stockholm , Sweden.
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Article Info
Journal
Frontiers in oncology
Abbr.
Front Oncol
ISSN
2234-943X
DOI
10.3389/fonc.2014.00062
Published
2014-00-00
Epub
2014-00-27
Pages
62
Language
English
Region
Switzerland
NLM ID
101568867
PMCID
PMC3973916
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2014.00062 PMC Full Text View journal details
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