Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) possess the capabilities of self-renewal and multipotent differentiation. Firstly isolated from bone marrow, MSCs are subsequently identified from various post-natal tissue types. Based the differentiation into tissue-specific cells, MSCs were capable of replacing damaged and diseased tissues. In addition, MSCs have been demonstrated to possess important immunomodulatory properties. Increasing data showed that MSCs exhibited tropism for sites of the tumor microenvironment and interacted with tumor cells closely through paracrine signaling. Therefore, better understanding of crosstalk between MSCs and tumor cells will be able to develop potential strategies in the treatment of tumors in the future. Herein, we summarize the research progress of the influence of MSCs on tumor cells and the prospect of their application in tumor therapy in this review.
Keywords: Cancer; Cell therapy; Gene delivery vehicles; Mesenchymal stem cells; Tumor microenvironment.