AUTHOR=Tommelein Joke , Verset Laurine , Boterberg Tom , Demetter Pieter , Bracke Marc , De Wever Olivier TITLE=Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts Connect Metastasis-Promoting Communication in Colorectal Cancer JOURNAL=Frontiers in Oncology VOLUME=5 YEAR=2015 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/oncology/articles/10.3389/fonc.2015.00063 DOI=10.3389/fonc.2015.00063 ISSN=2234-943X ABSTRACT=

Colorectal cancer (CRC) progression and eventually metastasis is directed in many aspects by a circuitous ecosystem consisting of an extracellular matrix scaffold populated by cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), endothelial cells, and diverse immune cells. CAFs are recruited from local tissue-resident fibroblasts or pericryptal fibroblasts and distant fibroblast precursors. CAFs are highly abundant in CRC. In this review, we apply the metastasis-promoting communication of colorectal CAFs to 10 cancer hallmarks described by Hanahan and Weinberg. CAFs influence innate and adaptive tumor immune responses. Using datasets from previously published work, we re-explore the potential messages implicated in this process. Fibroblasts present in metastasis (metastasis-associated fibroblasts) from CRC may have other characteristics and functional roles than CAFs in the primary tumor. Since CAFs connect metastasis-promoting communication, CAF markers are potential prognostic biomarkers. CAFs and their products are possible targets for novel therapeutic strategies.