Article
The role of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma associated fibroblasts in tumor progression
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Published: | April 17, 2009 |
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Outline
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Remarkable achievements in stem cell research delineated new horizons of future improvement of cancer therapy. Paradigm of existence of cancer stem cell has been established in solid tumors and it is based on parallel between tissue stem cells and population of cancer cells responsible for tumor spreading. Normal tissue stem cells require highly specialized microenvironment so called niche that is necessary for the maintenance of their stemness. Disorders of such microenvironment drive the stem cell population to entrance to the process of final differentiation. The positive role of tumor stroma in course of vascularisation of tumor bed has already been well described. The sum of evidence that cancer associated stromal fibroblasts exert an important role in cancer progression is enlarged and their participation in cancer stem cell niche formation seems to be highly probable.
When coculture normal keratinocytes with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma associated fibroblasts, the phenotype of keratinocytes is heavily altered to resemble cancer cells. Modern analytic technologies such as DNA microarrays analysis indicated differences in production of regulatory factors/cytokines that significant in biological activity of cancer associate fibroblasts. Nature of these fibroblasts is not well understood yet, but principally they can originate in local mesenchyme under the control of cancer cells. However, they can be also arise from tumor cells undergoing epithelial-mesenchymal transition or in cells formed by fusion of cancer cells with local fibroblasts. Summarizing these data, similarly to embryonic development, mesenchymal-epithelial interaction can play an important role in tumor progression and its management may be a promising future anticancer therapeutic tool.
Supported by: The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic, projects No. NPV 2B06106 and 0021620806.