2016, Volume 10, Issue 1
Frontiers of Medicine >> 2016, Volume 10, Issue 1 doi: 10.1007/s11684-016-0431-5
Breast cancer-associated fibroblasts: their roles in tumor initiation, progression and clinical applications
1. Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, National Clinical Research Center of Cancer, Key Laboratory of Breast Cancer Prevention and Therapy of the Ministry of Education; Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy of Tianjin, Tianjin 300060, China.
2. Department of Pathology, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan 030001, China.
3. Department of Pathology, Cooper University Hospital & Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, One Cooper Plaza, Camden, NJ 08103, USA
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Abstract
Breast cancer is the most common malignant tumor in women, and the incidence of this disease has increased in recent years because of changes in diet, living environment, gestational age, and other unknown factors. Previous studies focused on cancer cells, but an increasing number of recent studies have analyzed the contribution of cancer microenvironment to the initiation and progression of breast cancer. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), the most abundant cells in tumor stroma, secrete various active biomolecules, including extracellular matrix components, growth factors, cytokines, proteases, and hormones. CAFs not only facilitate the initiation, growth, angiogenesis, invasion, and metastasis of cancer but also serve as biomarkers in the clinical diagnosis, therapy, and prognosis of breast cancer. In this article, we reviewed the literature and summarized the research findings on CAFs in breast cancer.
Keywords
cancer-associated fibroblast ; breast cancer ; progression ; prognosis
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