Fotsitzoudis Charalampos, Koulouridi Asimina, Messaritakis Ippokratis, Konstantinidis Theocharis, Gouvas Nikolaos, Tsiaoussis John, Souglakos John
Laboratory of Translational Oncology, School of Medicine, University of Crete, 70013 Heraklion, Greece.
Department of Nursing, Hellenic Mediterranean University, 71410 Heraklion, Greece.
Cancers (Basel). 2022 Sep 9;14(18):4394. doi: 10.3390/cancers14184394.
The therapeutic approaches to cancer remain a considerable target for all scientists around the world. Although new cancer treatments are an everyday phenomenon, cancer still remains one of the leading mortality causes. Colorectal cancer (CRC) remains in this category, although patients with CRC may have better survival compared with other malignancies. Not only the tumor but also its environment, what we call the tumor microenvironment (TME), seem to contribute to cancer progression and resistance to therapy. TME consists of different molecules and cells. Cancer-associated fibroblasts are a major component. They arise from normal fibroblasts and other normal cells through various pathways. Their role seems to contribute to cancer promotion, participating in tumorigenesis, proliferation, growth, invasion, metastasis and resistance to treatment. Different markers, such as a-SMA, FAP, PDGFR-β, periostin, have been used for the detection of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs). Their detection is important for two main reasons; research has shown that their existence is correlated with prognosis, and they are already under evaluation as a possible target for treatment. However, extensive research is warranted.
癌症的治疗方法仍然是全世界所有科学家的一个重要目标。尽管新的癌症治疗方法层出不穷，但癌症仍然是主要的致死原因之一。结直肠癌（CRC）也在此列，不过与其他恶性肿瘤相比，CRC患者的生存率可能更高。不仅肿瘤本身，而且其所处环境，即我们所说的肿瘤微环境（TME），似乎都对癌症进展和治疗耐药性有影响。TME由不同的分子和细胞组成。癌症相关成纤维细胞是主要成分。它们通过各种途径由正常成纤维细胞和其他正常细胞产生。它们的作用似乎有助于癌症的发展，参与肿瘤发生、增殖、生长、侵袭、转移和治疗抵抗。不同的标志物，如α -平滑肌肌动蛋白（α-SMA）、成纤维细胞活化蛋白（FAP）、血小板衍生生长因子受体β（PDGFR-β）、骨膜蛋白，已被用于检测癌症相关成纤维细胞（CAFs）。对它们的检测很重要，主要有两个原因；研究表明它们的存在与预后相关，并且它们已经作为一种可能的治疗靶点正在接受评估。然而，仍需要进行广泛的研究。
