ReviewCancer science2020
Cancer-associated fibroblasts that restrain cancer progression: Hypotheses and perspectives.
Review in Cancer science, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 114 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
114 citing papers in PubMed, 177 citations in OpenAlex.
- The multiple myeloma microenvironment is defined by an inflammatory stromal cell landscape.Nature immunology · 2021Trial
- Cancer-associated fibroblasts: The silent conductors of tumor evolution and therapy refractoriness.Molecular biology reports · 2026Review
- Super-Enhancer Formation in Scirrhous Gastric CAFs, and the Presence of a Stromal Field in Non-Cancerous Tissues.Cancer science · 2026Article
- Increased Meflin Expression in Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts Restrains Tumor Cell Proliferation and Shapes Vessel-Rich Stroma in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer.The American journal of pathology · 2026Article
- Modulatory effects of Pioglitazone on the CAF-driven malignant phenotype in cervical cancer: an in vitro bidirectional study.Discover oncology · 2026Article
- Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts Functions as Multifunctional Architects of the Tumor Stroma and Represent Emerging Therapeutic Vulnerabilities.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Review
- Single cell and spatial sequencing analysis of cancer associated fibroblasts in the brain metastasis tumor microenvironment.Communications biology · 2026Article
- An Advanced 3D Model of Vascularized Epithelial Ovarian Cancer in a Tumor-on-a-Chip System Based on Multi-Cell Culture.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Stromal Defense Against Cancer: An Unprecedented Mechanism Limiting Cancer Invasion Into the Bone.Cancer science · 2026Review
- Meflin is a druggable target using antibody-drug conjugates in progressive osteosarcoma.Oncogene · 2025Article
- The emerging role of cancer-associated fibroblasts in hematological malignancies: from their influence on tumor progression and drug resistance to novel therapeutic opportunities.Clinical and experimental medicine · 2025Review
- Modeling tumor dynamics and predicting response to therapies in a murine pancreatic cancer model.NPJ systems biology and applications · 2025Article
- Metabolic and immune crosstalk between cancer-associated fibroblasts and pancreatic cancer cells.Journal of translational medicine · 2025Review
- Stromagenesis and cancer-associated fibroblast heterogeneity in primary tumors and metastasis: focus in non-small cell lung cancer.FEBS open bio · 2025Review
- Piezo1: the Potential Novel Target for Radiation-induced Liver Fibrosis by Regulating FAP + fibroblasts.Molecular and cellular biochemistry · 2025Review
- p53 Deficiency in Colon Cancer Cells Promotes Tumor Progression Through the Modulation of Meflin in Fibroblasts.Cancer science · 2025Article
- PDGFC secreted by cancer-associated fibroblasts promotes epithelial-mesenchymal transition and immunosuppression in lung adenocarcinoma.Acta biochimica et biophysica Sinica · 2025Article
- Meflin/Islr is a marker of fibroblasts that arise in fibrotic regions after spinal cord injury.Nagoya journal of medical science · 2025Article
- The transcriptional regulators GATA6 and TET1 regulate the TGF-β pathway in cancer-associated fibroblasts to promote breast cancer progression.Cell death discovery · 2025Article
- The role of cancer-associated fibroblasts in the tumour microenvironment of urinary system.Clinical and translational medicine · 2025Review
54 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 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
The roles of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAF) in the progression of various types of cancers are well established. CAF promote cancer progression through pleiotropic mechanisms, including the secretion of soluble factors and extracellular matrix, physical interactions with cancer cells, and the regulation of angiogenesis, immunity and metabolism. Their contribution to therapeutic resistance is also well appreciated. Therefore, CAF have been considered as a therapeutic target in cancer. However, recent studies in autochthonous pancreatic cancer models suggest that specific subset(s) of CAF exhibit cancer-restraining roles, indicating that CAF are functionally and molecularly heterogeneous, which is supported by recent single-cell transcriptome analyses. While cancer-promoting CAF (pCAF) have been extensively studied, the nature and specific marker(s) of cancer-restraining CAF (rCAF) have remained uncharacterized. Interestingly, a recent study provided insight into the nature of rCAF and suggested that they may share molecular properties with pancreatic stellate cells (PSC) and mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSC). Complicating this finding is that PSC and MSC have been shown to promote the formation of a tumor-permissive and tumor-promoting environment in xenograft tumor models. However, these cells undergo significant transcriptional and epigenetic changes during ex vivo culture, which confounds the interpretation of experimental results based on the use of cultured cells. In this short review, we describe recent studies and hypotheses on the identity of rCAF and discuss their analogy to fibroblasts that suppress fibrosis in fibrotic diseases. Finally, we discuss how these findings can be exploited to develop novel anticancer therapies in the future.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.