Cancer-associated fibroblasts expressing FSTL3 promote vasculogenic mimicry formation and drive colon cancer malignancy.

ABSTRACT: Anti-angiogenic therapies are commonly employed in colon cancer management, yet many patients eventually develop resistance and experience disease progression. Vasculogenic mimicry (VM)-the formation of tumor-derived vessel-like networks-has been recognized as one mechanism contributing to this resistance, although the underlying details remain incompletely understood. Here, by integrating bioinformatic analyses of publicly available datasets and validating the results in patient samples (n = 157), we identified follistatin-like 3 (FSTL3) as a critical factor predominantly expressed in colon cancer-associated fibroblasts (CCAFs), with its expression strongly correlating with increased VM formation, intratumoral blood vessels, and poor prognosis. Single-cell RNA sequencing of tumors from VM

SUBMITTER: Ying L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12501291 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature