TY - JOUR
T1 - Recent advances in understanding cancer-associated fibroblasts in pancreatic cancer
AU - Huang, Huocong
AU - Brekken, Rolf A.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by NIH (National Cancer Institute Grants R01 CA192381 and U54 CA210181 Project 2), the Effie Marie Cain Fellowship. and the Jean Shelby Fund for Cancer Research at Communities Foundation of Texas (to R.A.B.).
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2020 the American Physiological Society
PY - 2020/8
Y1 - 2020/8
N2 - Recent advances in understanding cancer-associated fibroblasts in pancreatic cancer. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol 319: C233–C243, 2020. First published May 20, 2020; doi:10.1152/ajpcell.00079.2020.—Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) is a devastating disease with a poor survival rate. It is resistant to therapy in part due to its unique tumor microenvironment, characterized by a desmoplastic reaction resulting in a dense stroma that constitutes a large fraction of the tumor volume. A major contributor to the desmoplastic reaction are cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs). CAFs actively interact with cancer cells and promote tumor progression by different mechanisms, including extracellular matrix deposition, remodeling, and secretion of tumor promoting factors, making CAFs an attractive target for PDA. However, emerging evidences indicate significant tumor-suppressive functions of CAFs, highlighting the complexity of CAF biology. CAFs were once considered as a uniform cell type within the cancer stroma. Recently, the existence of CAF heterogeneity in PDA has become appreciated. Due to advances in single cell technology, distinct subtypes of CAFs have been identified in PDA. Here we review recent updates in CAF biology in PDA, which may help develop effective CAF-targeted therapies in the future.
AB - Recent advances in understanding cancer-associated fibroblasts in pancreatic cancer. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol 319: C233–C243, 2020. First published May 20, 2020; doi:10.1152/ajpcell.00079.2020.—Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) is a devastating disease with a poor survival rate. It is resistant to therapy in part due to its unique tumor microenvironment, characterized by a desmoplastic reaction resulting in a dense stroma that constitutes a large fraction of the tumor volume. A major contributor to the desmoplastic reaction are cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs). CAFs actively interact with cancer cells and promote tumor progression by different mechanisms, including extracellular matrix deposition, remodeling, and secretion of tumor promoting factors, making CAFs an attractive target for PDA. However, emerging evidences indicate significant tumor-suppressive functions of CAFs, highlighting the complexity of CAF biology. CAFs were once considered as a uniform cell type within the cancer stroma. Recently, the existence of CAF heterogeneity in PDA has become appreciated. Due to advances in single cell technology, distinct subtypes of CAFs have been identified in PDA. Here we review recent updates in CAF biology in PDA, which may help develop effective CAF-targeted therapies in the future.
KW - Cancer-associated fibroblasts
KW - Fibroblast heterogeneity
KW - Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
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U2 - 10.1152/ajpcell.00079.2020
DO - 10.1152/ajpcell.00079.2020
M3 - Article
C2 - 32432930
AN - SCOPUS:85088495862
SN - 0363-6135
VL - 319
SP - C233-C243
JO - American Journal of Physiology - Heart and Circulatory Physiology
JF - American Journal of Physiology - Heart and Circulatory Physiology
IS - 2
ER -