Çakal Sacide, Er Urgancı Buket, Şimşek Selda
Department of Medical Biology, Pamukkale University, Faculty of Medicine, Denizli 20070, Türkiye.
World J Clin Oncol. 2025 Jul 24;16(7):107339. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v16.i7.107339.
Breast cancer is one of the most common malignancies worldwide and is a major cause of cancer-related mortality among women. Beyond tumor cells, the tumor microenvironment (TME) also plays an important role in cancer progression, therapy resistance, and metastasis. The TME is a complex ecosystem consisting of stromal and immune cells, extracellular matrix (ECM), and various signaling molecules that dynamically interact with tumor cells. Cancer-associated fibroblasts remodel the ECM and secrete growth factors that promote tumor growth and invasion. Immune cells, such as tumor-associated macrophages, regulatory T cells, and myeloid-derived suppressor cells, often contribute to an immunosuppressive environment that hinders anti-tumor immune responses. The ECM provides structural support and acts as a reservoir for signaling molecules that influence cancer cell behavior. These components evolve together with tumor cells, facilitating immune evasion, therapy resistance, and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, which promotes metastasis. Understanding these interactions is necessary to develop novel therapeutic strategies that target both tumor and microenvironmental components. This minireview highlights the key stromal and immune elements within the breast cancer microenvironment, discussing their individual and collective roles in tumor progression and clinical outcomes, while emphasizing emerging therapeutic approaches aiming to reprogram the TME to improve treatment efficacy.
乳腺癌是全球最常见的恶性肿瘤之一，也是女性癌症相关死亡的主要原因。除肿瘤细胞外，肿瘤微环境（TME）在癌症进展、治疗耐药性和转移中也起着重要作用。TME是一个复杂的生态系统，由基质细胞和免疫细胞、细胞外基质（ECM）以及与肿瘤细胞动态相互作用的各种信号分子组成。癌症相关成纤维细胞重塑ECM并分泌促进肿瘤生长和侵袭的生长因子。免疫细胞，如肿瘤相关巨噬细胞、调节性T细胞和髓系来源的抑制细胞，常常促成一种免疫抑制环境，阻碍抗肿瘤免疫反应。ECM提供结构支持，并作为影响癌细胞行为的信号分子的储存库。这些成分与肿瘤细胞共同进化，促进免疫逃逸、治疗耐药性以及上皮-间质转化，从而促进转移。了解这些相互作用对于开发针对肿瘤和微环境成分的新型治疗策略是必要的。本综述强调了乳腺癌微环境中的关键基质和免疫成分，讨论了它们在肿瘤进展和临床结果中的个体和共同作用，同时强调了旨在重新编程TME以提高治疗效果的新兴治疗方法。
