Cancer-associated fibroblasts in hematologic malignancies: elucidating roles and spotlighting therapeutic targets

Ziyang Ding; Run Shi; Weikang Hu; Lei Tian; Rong Sun; Yang Wu; Xiaoyan Zhang

doi:10.3389/fonc.2023.1193978

Cancer-associated fibroblasts in hematologic malignancies: elucidating roles and spotlighting therapeutic targets

Front Oncol. 2023 Sep 6:13:1193978. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1193978. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Ziyang Ding¹, Run Shi², Weikang Hu³, Lei Tian³, Rong Sun⁴, Yang Wu³, Xiaoyan Zhang⁵

Affiliations

¹ The Second Clinical School of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
² Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
³ Pancreas Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
⁴ Department of Radiation Oncology, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing, China.
⁵ Department of Hematology, Tongren Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.

Abstract

Hematologic malignancies comprise a diverse range of blood, bone marrow, and organ-related disorders that present significant challenges due to drug resistance, relapse, and treatment failure. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) represent a critical component of the tumor microenvironment (TME) and have recently emerged as potential therapeutic targets. In this comprehensive review, we summarize the latest findings on the roles of CAFs in various hematologic malignancies, including acute leukemia, multiple myeloma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, myeloproliferative neoplasms, and lymphoma. We also explore their involvement in tumor progression, drug resistance, and the various signaling pathways implicated in their activation and function. While the underlying mechanisms and the existence of multiple CAF subtypes pose challenges, targeting CAFs and their associated pathways offers a promising avenue for the development of innovative treatments to improve patient outcomes in hematologic malignancies.

Keywords: cancer associated fibroblast (CAF); chemoresistance; crosstalk; hematologic malignancies; therapeutic target.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

The project was funded by the Science and Technology Innovation Project for Nanjing Overseas Chinese (YW, No. B42), the Incubation Program of National Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Provincial People’s Hospital (YW, No. 39) and Jiangsu Province “Double-Creation Doctorate” Talent Program (YW).