An increasing body of research indicates that stroma surrounding cancer cells plays an important role in the development and subsequent behavior of the tumor. Studies using a wide range of techniques, including stromal cell isolation, modification of stromal-specific gene expression, and recreation of specific microenvironment conditions in culture, have demonstrated that stroma can promote cancer and that the expression patterns within the stroma can influence clinical outcome. Major hurdles in the study of the cancer stroma revolve around the cellular complexity of the tumor microenvironment,
both in modeling the microenvironment and discovering/isolating pure populations of stromal cell types.
An alternative, emerging, avenue of therapy focuses on targeting various non-neoplastic cells that are associated with the tumor microenvironment, such as endothelial cells. Since stromal cells within the tumor are thought to be ‘normal’ and less genetically labile than the neoplastic cells, development of acquired resistance to therapy may be less likely. As such, the tumor stroma may be an excellent target for directed therapy.
CELLS OF THE STROMA:
The stroma consists of a compilation of cells, including fibroblasts/myofibroblasts, glial, epithelial, fat, immune, vascular, smooth muscle, and immune cells along with the extra cellular matrix (ECM) and extra cellular molecules. Among this, the most widely studied to date are the fibroblasts, immune cells, and the vascular cells. Rrecently, research groups are also trying to identify new subtypes of fibroblasts and their role in cancer, develop markers, etc by using the studies of profiles from two different STTs (soft tissue tumors (STTs), desmoid-type fibromatosis (DTF) and solitary fibrous tumor (SFT).
References:
1 Li H etal Tumor microenvironment: the role of the tumor stroma in cancer. J Cell Biochem. 2007 Jul 1;101(4):805-15.
2) Robert B West etal Experimental approaches to the study of cancer–stroma interactions: recent findings suggest a pivotal role for stroma in carcinogenesis Laboratory Investigation (2007), 1–4
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