ReviewInternational journal of molecular sciences2018
Fibroblasts in the Tumor Microenvironment: Shield or Spear?
Review in International journal of molecular sciences, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 142 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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
142 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 240 citations in OpenAlex.
- Collagenase-mediated extracellular matrix targeting for enhanced drug penetration and therapeutic efficacy in nanoscale delivery systems for cancer therapy.Journal of nanobiotechnology · 2025Pooled it
- Symmetric cancer spheroid-fibroblast organization revealed in 3D by high-throughput microscopy.Communications biology · 2026Article
- Dynamic ecosystems of tumor drug resistance mechanisms: from molecular heterogeneity to systemic interventions.Apoptosis : an international journal on programmed cell death · 2026Review
- The role of the tumor microenvironment in drug resistance acquisition in lung squamous cell carcinoma.Journal of experimental & clinical cancer research : CR · 2026Review
- Amelioration of colorectal cancer-associated fibroblasts in immunosuppressive microenvironment by ferroptosis-based nanotherapy.Nature communications · 2026Article
- The Role of Fibroblast-Epithelial Cross-Talk on the Distribution of Distinct Fibroblast Phenotypes in the Intestinal Crypt.Bulletin of mathematical biology · 2026Article
- Increased Cell Growth Response to Lysophosphatidic Acid (LPA) of Lung Cancer Cells via LPA Receptor Signaling Induced by Cooperative Action of Lymphatic Endothelial Cells and Fibroblasts.Cell biochemistry and biophysics · 2025Article
- Tumor cells promote immunosuppression in ovarian cancer via a positive feedback loop with MDSCs through the SAA1-IL-1β axis.Journal of experimental & clinical cancer research : CR · 2025Article
- Blood and urine-based biomarkers in prostate cancer: Current advances, clinical applications, and future directions.The journal of liquid biopsy · 2025Review
- Fibronectin Fibers Progressively Lose Their Tension in Invasive Human Breast Carcinoma while Being Tensed in DCIS and Healthy Breast Tissue.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025Article
- A Novel Hypoxia-Immune Signature for Gastric Cancer Prognosis and Immunotherapy: Insights from Bulk and Single-Cell RNA-Seq.Current issues in molecular biology · 2025Article
- Immune Microenvironment in Oral Potentially Malignant Disorders and Oral Cancer: A Narrative Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Effect of conditioned medium from miRNA-34a transfected gastric cancer-associated fibroblast on peripheral blood mononuclear cells.BMC immunology · 2025Article
- The Role of Zuo Jin Wan in Modulating the Tumor Microenvironment of Colorectal Cancer.Combinatorial chemistry & high throughput screening · 2025Article
- An early-stage 3D fibroblast-featured tumor model mimics the gene expression of the naïve tumor microenvironment, including genes involved in cancer progression and drug resistance.Frontiers in oncology · 2025Article
- Unraveling the role of cancer-associated fibroblasts in colorectal cancer.World journal of gastrointestinal oncology · 2024Review
- Fibroblast stromal support model for predicting human papillomavirus-associated cancer drug responses.Journal of virology · 2024Article
- Reprogramming of normal fibroblasts into ovarian cancer-associated fibroblasts via non-vesicular paracrine signaling induces an activated fibroblast phenotype.Biochimica et biophysica acta. Molecular cell research · 2024Article
- The evolutionary theory of cancer: challenges and potential solutions.Nature reviews. Cancer · 2024Review
- EphA-Mediated Regulation of Stomatin Expression in Prostate Cancer Cells.Cancer medicine · 2024Article
82 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Tumorigenesis is a complex process involving dynamic interactions between malignant cells and their surrounding stroma, including both the cellular and acellular components. Within the stroma, fibroblasts represent not only a predominant cell type, but also a major source of the acellular tissue microenvironment comprising the extracellular matrix (ECM) and soluble factors. Normal fibroblasts can exert diverse suppressive functions against cancer initiating and metastatic cells via direct cell-cell contact, paracrine signaling by soluble factors, and ECM integrity. The loss of such suppressive functions is an inherent step in tumor progression. A tumor cell-induced switch of normal fibroblasts into cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), in turn, triggers a range of pro-tumorigenic signals accompanied by distraction of the normal tissue architecture, thus creating an optimal niche for cancer cells to grow extensively. To further support tumor progression and metastasis, CAFs secrete factors such as ECM remodeling enzymes that further modify the tumor microenvironment in combination with the altered adhesive forces and cell-cell interactions. These paradoxical tumor suppressive and promoting actions of fibroblasts are the focus of this review, highlighting the heterogenic molecular properties of both normal and cancer-associated fibroblasts, as well as their main mechanisms of action, including the emerging impact on immunomodulation and different therapy responses.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.