Paracrine signaling in cancer-associated fibroblasts: central regulators of the tumor immune microenvironment.

ABSTRACT: Despite groundbreaking advances in cancer immunotherapy, clinical efficacy remains constrained by the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME). As key stromal components within this TME, cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) emerge as pivotal regulators of drug resistance and immune evasion. Beyond establishing physical barriers that exclude cytotoxic T cells from tumor nests, that is creating an immune "desert", CAFs dynamically reprogram the TME through multifaceted paracrine signaling, orchestrating crosstalk among tumor cells, stromal components, and immune cells. The complex paracrine signaling network jointly promotes the recruitment of immunosuppressive cells, alters the dynamics of immune cells, remodels the extracellular matrix, and ultimately establishes the immunosuppressiv

SUBMITTER: Li Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12186372 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature