Cancer-associated fibroblast heterogeneity and its role in reshaping immunotherapy in solid cancers: potential strategies and clinical promise

TL;DR

This paper explores how different types of cancer-associated fibroblasts interact with immune cells in tumors, offering new strategies for improving cancer immunotherapy.

Contribution

The paper provides a comprehensive overview of CAF subpopulation-immune cell interactions in the tumor microenvironment for immunotherapy applications.

Findings

CAFs are a highly heterogeneous group with unique functions in tumor immune regulation.

Interactions between CAF subpopulations and immune cells offer new insights for antitumor immunotherapy.

Further research is needed to reveal the specific mechanisms of CAF-immune cell crosstalk.

Abstract

Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are important components of the solid tumour microenvironment (TME). CAFs have long been regarded as major promoters of the malignant progression of tumours and are widely recognized for their strong secretory activity and direct effect on the malignant ability of tumour cells. Recently, studies have found extensive crosstalk between CAFs and tumour immunity. CAFs constitute a highly heterogeneous group, and continuous studies have shown that their subpopulations have unique functions and can be widely involved in tumour immune regulation and immunotherapy. However, the specific mechanisms still need to be further revealed. In this paper, we focused on the interactions between CAFs subpopulations and immune cells in the TME and summarized the interactions between CAFs and immune cells from multiple perspectives to provide new insights for antitumour immunotherapy in solid tumours.

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