| Breast cancer is one of the most important women-related malignancies, which is incurable (particularly in
advanced stages) and tumor microenvironment is a number one accused part in the inefficiency of current antibreast
cancer therapeutic strategies. The tumor microenvironment is composed of various cellular and acellular
components, which provide an optimum condition for freely expanding cancer cells in various cancer types,
particularly breast cancer. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are one of the main cell types in the breast tumor
region, which can promote various tumor-promoting processes such as expansion, angiogenesis, metastasis and
drug resistance. CAFs directly (by cell-to-cell communication) and indirectly (through secreting soluble factors)
can exert their tumorigenic functions. We try to elucidate the immunobiology of CAFs, their origin, function, and
heterogeneity in association with their role in various cancer-promoting processes in breast cancer. Based on
current knowledge, we believe that the origin of CAFs, their subsets, and their specific expressed biomarkers
determine their pro- or anti-tumor functions. Therefore, targeting CAF without considering their specific functions
may lead to a deleterious outcome. We propose to find and characterize each subtype of CAFs in association
with its specific function in different stages of breast cancer to develop novel promising therapeutic approaches
against the right CAF subtype. |