ReviewFrontiers in cell and developmental biology2026
Cancer-associated fibroblasts in head and neck tumours: signalling networks and therapeutic implications with insights from vestibular schwannoma.
Review in Frontiers in cell and developmental biology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are heterogeneous stromal cells that influence extracellular matrix (ECM) organisation, tumour-cell state, immunity, and treatment response in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). This review synthesises evidence on CAF origins and states and on the transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β), Wnt/β-catenin, PI3K/AKT/mTOR, and Hippo-YAP/TAZ networks that mediate fibroblast interactions with tumour and immune cells. Vestibular schwannoma (VS) is considered only as a hypothesis-generating benign stromal reference: both tumours contain fibroblast and ECM-remodelling compartments, but differ fundamentally in cell of origin, anatomy, oncogenic drivers, immune context, and invasive behaviour. VS stromal fibroblasts are not designated as CAFs unless a study has explicitly applied that term, and cross-tumour observations are not treated as evidence of biological equivalence. Single-cell and spatial studies reveal multiple HNSCC fibroblast states, including myofibroblastic, inflammatory, antigen-presenting and fibroblastic reticular cell (FRC)-like, and immune-regulatory populations, but nomenclature and marker sets remain inconsistent and most inferred functions require perturbational validation. Translational evidence is similarly uneven: broad CAF depletion can be harmful in some non-HNSCC models, whereas pathway- or state-selective modulation is supported mainly by preclinical studies. Early HNSCC trials of TGF-β/programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) blockade and NADPH oxidase 1/4 (NOX1/4) inhibition provide feasibility signals but not definitive efficacy. Current evidence supports biomarker-guided investigation of functionally defined CAF states; stromal observations in VS remain hypothesis-generating and require direct experimental validation.
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.