ArticlePloS one2011
Functional heterogeneity of breast fibroblasts is defined by a prostaglandin secretory phenotype that promotes expansion of cancer-stem like cells.
Article in PloS one, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
38 citing papers in PubMed, 55 citations in OpenAlex.
- Targeting fibroblast activation suppresses chemotherapy-induced pro-invasive remodeling of the extracellular matrix.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Bovine serum albumin nanoparticles encapsulating Dasatinib and Celecoxib for oral cancer: Preparation, characterization, and in-vitro evaluation.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2025Article
- Generation of Cancer Stem Cells by Co-Culture Methods.Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2024Article
- Review
- Review
- The Role of Mesenchymal Stem Cells in the Induction of Cancer-Stem Cell Phenotype.Frontiers in oncology · 2022Review
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- The Prostaglandin E2 Pathway and Breast Cancer Stem Cells: Evidence of Increased Signaling and Potential Targeting.Frontiers in oncology · 2021Review
- Cytokines secreted by stromal cells in TNBC microenvironment as potential targets for cancer therapy.Cancer biology & therapy · 2020Article
- Review
- Next Viable Routes to Targeting Pancreatic Cancer Stemness: Learning from Clinical Setbacks.Journal of clinical medicine · 2019Review
- Characterization of Distinct Populations of Carcinoma-Associated Fibroblasts from Non-Small Cell Lung Carcinoma Reveals a Role for ST8SIA2 in Cancer Cell Invasion.Neoplasia (New York, N.Y.) · 2019Article
- Targeting the Interplay Between Cancer Fibroblasts, Mesenchymal Stem Cells, and Cancer Stem Cells in Desmoplastic Cancers.Frontiers in oncology · 2019Review
- Obesity-Activated Adipose-Derived Stromal Cells Promote Breast Cancer Growth and Invasion.Neoplasia (New York, N.Y.) · 2018Article
- Review
- Microenvironmental Signals and Biochemical Information Processing: Cooperative Determinants of Intratumoral Plasticity and Heterogeneity.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2018Review
- Metronomic chemotherapy prevents therapy-induced stromal activation and induction of tumor-initiating cells.The Journal of experimental medicine · 2016Article
- Capturing tumor complexity in vitro: Comparative analysis of 2D and 3D tumor models for drug discovery.Scientific reports · 2016Article
- Metformin represses bladder cancer progression by inhibiting stem cell repopulation via COX2/PGE2/STAT3 axis.Oncotarget · 2016Article
- A novel aspirin prodrug inhibits NFκB activity and breast cancer stem cell properties.BMC cancer · 2015Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Fibroblasts are important in orchestrating various functions necessary for maintaining normal tissue homeostasis as well as promoting malignant tumor growth. Significant evidence indicates that fibroblasts are functionally heterogeneous with respect to their ability to promote tumor growth, but markers that can be used to distinguish growth promoting from growth suppressing fibroblasts remain ill-defined. Here we show that human breast fibroblasts are functionally heterogeneous with respect to tumor-promoting activity regardless of whether they were isolated from normal or cancerous breast tissues. Rather than significant differences in fibroblast marker expression, we show that fibroblasts secreting abundant levels of prostaglandin (PGE2), when isolated from either reduction mammoplasty or carcinoma tissues, were both capable of enhancing tumor growth in vivo and could increase the number of cancer stem-like cells. PGE2 further enhanced the tumor promoting properties of fibroblasts by increasing secretion of IL-6, which was necessary, but not sufficient, for expansion of breast cancer stem-like cells. These findings identify a population of fibroblasts which both produce and respond to PGE2, and that are functionally distinct from other fibroblasts. Identifying markers of these cells could allow for the targeted ablation of tumor-promoting and inflammatory fibroblasts in human breast cancers.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.