ArticleBMC cancer2017
Cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are activated in cutaneous basal cell carcinoma and in the peritumoural skin.
Article in BMC cancer, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 42 papers.
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Who cites it
42 citing papers in PubMed, 58 citations in OpenAlex.
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- The immune landscape of melanoma microenvironmental crosstalk.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
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- Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor-1 in Skin Malignancies: Therapeutic Implications of Its Inhibition.Biomolecules · 2025Review
- Exploring the Complexity of Cutaneous Squamous CellCarcinoma Microenvironment: Focus on Immune Cell Roles by Novel 3D In Vitro Models.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Double-sided niche regulation in skin stem cell and cancer: mechanisms and clinical applications.Molecular cancer · 2025Review
- Despicable role of epithelial-mesenchymal transition in breast cancer metastasis: ExhibitingCancer pathogenesis and therapy · 2025Review
- The expression of CCL17 and potential prognostic value on tumor immunity in thyroid carcinoma based on bioinformatics analysis.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Immunotherapy for locally advanced and metastatic basal cell carcinoma: a narrative review.Translational cancer research · 2024Review
- Cancer-associated fibroblast subtypes modulate the tumor-immune microenvironment and are associated with skin cancer malignancy.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Immune Checkpoints and Cellular Landscape of the Tumor Microenvironment in Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer (NMSC).Cells · 2024Review
- CCL17, CCL22 and their receptor CCR4 in hematologic malignancies.Discover oncology · 2024Review
- Hic-5 regulates extracellular matrix-associated gene expression and cytokine secretion in cancer associated fibroblasts.Experimental cell research · 2024Article
- Skin Cancer Microenvironment: What We Can Learn from Skin Aging?International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Review
- Nodular and Micronodular Basal Cell Carcinoma Subtypes Are Different Tumors Based on Their Morphological Architecture and Their Interaction with the Surrounding Stroma.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Single-cell analysis of human basal cell carcinoma reveals novel regulators of tumor growth and the tumor microenvironment.Science advances · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundCutaneous basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the commonest cancer worldwide. BCC is locally invasive and the surrounding stromal microenvironment is pivotal for tumourigenesis. Cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs) in the microenvironment are essential for tumour growth in a variety of neoplasms but their role in BCC is poorly understood.
methodsMaterial included facial BCC and control skin from the peritumoural area and from the buttocks. With next-generation sequencing (NGS) we compared mRNA expression between BCC and peritumoural skin. qRT-PCR, immunohistochemical and immunofluorescent staining were performed to validate the NGS results and to investigate CAF-related cyto-and chemokines.
resultsNGS revealed upregulation of 65 genes in BCC coding for extracellular matrix components pointing at CAF-related matrix remodeling. qRT-PCR showed increased mRNA expression of CAF markers FAP-α, PDGFR-β and prolyl-4-hydroxylase in BCC. Peritumoural skin (but not buttock skin) also exhibited high expression of PDGFR-β and prolyl-4-hydroxylase but not FAP-α. We found a similar pattern for the CAF-associated chemokines CCL17, CCL18, CCL22, CCL25, CXCL12 and IL6 with high expression in BCC and peritumoural skin but absence in buttock skin. Immunofluorescence revealed correlation between FAP-α and PDGFR-β and CXCL12 and CCL17.
conclusionMatrix remodeling is the most prominent molecular feature of BCC. CAFs are present within BCC stroma and associated with increased expression of chemokines involved in tumour progression and immunosuppression (CXCL12, CCL17). Fibroblasts from chronically sun-exposed skin near tumours show gene expression patterns resembling that of CAFs, indicating that stromal fibroblasts in cancer-free surgical BCC margins exhibit a tumour promoting phenotype.
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