Department of Pathology and Clinical Laboratories, National Cancer Center Hospital East, 6-5-1, Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba, 277-8577, Japan.
Division of Innovative Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Exploratory Oncology Research and Clinical Trial Center, Chiba, Japan.
Hum Cell. 2020 Oct;33(4):938-945. doi: 10.1007/s13577-020-00417-8. Epub 2020 Aug 27.
Cancer tissue comprises not only cancer cells, but also several types of non-cancerous cells, such as cancer-associated fibroblasts. These fibroblasts directly and/or indirectly communicate with the cancer cells and other types of stromal cells, to create a specific tumor microenvironment. Cytotoxic chemotherapy plays a central role in treating cancer; however, tumor re-progression (recurrence) is a significant problem for cancer patients. Cytotoxic anticancer drugs act on fibroblasts as well as cancer cells and, after chemotherapy, all surviving cells are in contact with one another in the local environment. Therefore, an understanding of the molecular interactions between surviving cancer cells and fibroblasts is necessary to prevent tumor re-progression and to sustain the effect of cytotoxic agents. After chemotherapy, the number of fibroblasts may increase, some of which are identifiable as tumor-promoting. In this review, we discuss the significance of cancer-associated fibroblasts in tumor re-progression after chemotherapy, and the potential value of targeting them to enhance clinical outcomes.
癌症组织不仅包含癌细胞，还包括几种类型的非癌细胞，如癌症相关成纤维细胞。这些成纤维细胞直接和/或间接地与癌细胞和其他类型的基质细胞相互作用，从而形成特定的肿瘤微环境。细胞毒性化疗在癌症治疗中起着核心作用；然而，肿瘤复发（复发）是癌症患者面临的一个重大问题。细胞毒性抗癌药物不仅作用于癌细胞，也作用于成纤维细胞，并且在化疗后，所有存活的细胞都在局部环境中相互接触。因此，为了防止肿瘤复发并维持细胞毒性药物的效果，有必要了解存活的癌细胞和成纤维细胞之间的分子相互作用。化疗后，成纤维细胞的数量可能会增加，其中一些可被鉴定为促进肿瘤生长的成纤维细胞。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了癌症相关成纤维细胞在化疗后肿瘤复发中的重要性，以及靶向这些细胞以提高临床疗效的潜在价值。
