Cancer-associated fibroblasts: heterogeneity and their role in the tumor immune response

作者：Yuxuan Xiao, Ziyu Wang, Meng Gu, Panjian Wei, Xiaojue Wang, Weiying Li · 发表于：Clinical and Experimental Medicine · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1007/s10238-024-01375-3 · 被引用次数：13 · 研究领域：Immune cells in cancer、Cancer Cells and Metastasis、Epigenetics and DNA Methylation

In recent decades, many reports have been published on the composition and function of the tumor microenvironment (TME), among which cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) have received much attention. CAFs have different degrees of heterogeneity in terms of their origin, phenotype, and function and can be divided into different subpopulations. These subgroups may play different roles in the occurrence and development of tumors. In addition, CAFs are closely associated with tumor immunity and have been found to regulate immune cell activity and to suppress the tumor immune response. In this review, we systematize the heterogeneity and characteristics of CAFs, discuss how specific CAF subgroups contribute to cancer progression by inducing an immunosuppressive microenvironment, and finally, we examine the future clinical applications of CAF subgroups.