ReviewCells2025
Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts in Solid Tumors and Sarcomas: Heterogeneity, Function, and Therapeutic Implications.
Review in Cells, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 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
12 citing papers in PubMed.
- The value of fibroblast activation protein inhibitor-based radionuclide theranostics in sarcoma: a systematic review.Annals of nuclear medicine · 2026Review
- Nanomaterials targeting cancer-associated fibroblasts to overcome stromal barriers in cancer immunotherapy.Journal of nanobiotechnology · 2026Review
- Cancer-associated fibroblast targeting therapies as a tool to enhance responses to radiotherapy and immunotherapy.Journal for immunotherapy of cancer · 2026Review
- Tumor Organoid and Microenvironment Cocultures: Implications for Basic and Translational Cancer Research.MedComm · 2026Review
- Mechanisms of Resistance and Synergy: The Role of Tumor Microenvironment in HER2-Low Breast Cancer Therapy.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Immunohistochemical Evidence of Telocytic Stroma Associated with Tumor Grade and Acinar Heterogeneity in Prostate Cancer.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts in Gastrointestinal Cancer Metastasis: Mechanisms and Emerging Therapeutic Strategies.Drug design, development and therapy · 2026Review
- Cancer-Associated Fibroblast-Targeted Nanomedicine in Solid Tumor Therapy: From Mechanisms of Therapeutic Resistance to Precision Stromal Modulation.International journal of nanomedicine · 2026Review
- Fibroblast transformation in the tumor microenvironment of lung adenocarcinoma: heterogeneity, regulation, and therapeutic targeting.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment and immunotherapy resistance of esophageal carcinoma.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Reprogramming the immunosuppressive breast cancer microenvironment: integrating cellular, metabolic, and stromal targets for rational immunotherapy.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Fibroblast-immune crosstalk in oral squamous cell carcinoma: from tumor promotion to immune evasion.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are crucial regulators of the tumor microenvironment (TME), promoting cancer progression, immune suppression, and therapy resistance. Single-cell transcriptomics has identified at least five distinct CAF subtypes: myofibroblastic (myCAFs), inflammatory (iCAFs), antigen-presenting (apCAFs), metabolic (meCAFs), and vascular/developmental (vCAFs/dCAFs), each with unique localization, signaling, and functions. While CAFs are well studied in epithelial cancers, their roles in sarcomas are less understood despite the shared mesenchymal origin of tumor and stromal cells. This overlap blurs the line between malignant and non-malignant fibroblasts, raising fundamental questions about the identity of CAFs in mesenchymal tumors. In this narrative review, we explore the heterogeneity and plasticity of CAFs across solid tumors, focusing on their role in immune evasion, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and resistance to chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy. We highlight emerging evidence on CAF-like cells in sarcomas and their contribution to tumor invasion, immune exclusion, and metastatic niche formation. We also assess new strategies to target or reprogram CAFs and suggest that CAF profiling may serve as a potential biomarker for patient stratification. Understanding CAF biology across various tumor types, including those with dense stroma and immunologically cold sarcomas, is crucial for developing more effective, personalized cancer treatments.
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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.