Characterising cancer-associated fibroblast heterogeneity in non-small cell lung cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

ABSTRACT: Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are a key component of the tumour microenvironment with evidence suggesting they represent a heterogeneous population. This study summarises the prognostic role of all proteins characterised in CAFs with immunohistochemistry in non-small cell lung cancer thus far. The functions of these proteins in cellular processes crucial to CAFs are also analysed. Five databases were searched to extract survival outcomes from published studies and statistical techniques, including a novel method, used to capture missing values from the literature. A total of 26 proteins were identified, 21 of which were combined into 7 common cellular processes key to CAFs. Quality assessments for sensitivity analyses were carried out for each study using the REMARK criteria whilst

SUBMITTER: Irvine AF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7881148 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature