Intratumoral Fibrosis in Facilitating Renal Cancer Aggressiveness: Underlying Mechanisms and Promising Targets

Chao Hu; Yufeng Zhao; Xuanchuan Wang; Tongyu Zhu

doi:10.3389/fcell.2021.651620

Intratumoral Fibrosis in Facilitating Renal Cancer Aggressiveness: Underlying Mechanisms and Promising Targets

Front Cell Dev Biol. 2021 Mar 11:9:651620. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2021.651620. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Chao Hu^{1

2}, Yufeng Zhao^{1

2}, Xuanchuan Wang^{1

2}, Tongyu Zhu^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Urology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
² Shanghai Key Laboratory of Organ Transplantation, Shanghai, China.

Abstract

Intratumoral fibrosis is a histologic manifestation of fibrotic tumor stroma. The interaction between cancer cells and fibrotic stroma is intricate and reciprocal, involving dysregulations from multiple biological processes. Different components of tumor stroma are implicated via distinct manners. In the kidney, intratumoral fibrosis is frequently observed in renal cell carcinoma (RCC). However, the underlying mechanisms remain largely unclear. In this review, we recapitulate evidence demonstrating how fibrotic stroma interacts with cancer cells and mechanisms shared between RCC tumorigenesis and renal fibrogenesis, providing promising targets for future studies.

Keywords: cancer-associated fibroblast; intratumoral fibrosis; metabolism; microRNA; renal cell carcinoma.

Publication types

Review