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The Tumor Microenvironment

The Tumor Microenvironment

Every normal cell or tissue is embedded in a complex local environment called stroma, consisting of different cell types, a basal membrane, and blood vessels. As normal cells mutate and develop into cancer cells, their local environment also changes to allow cancer progression. The tumor microenvironment (TME) consists of a complex cellular matrix of stromal cells and the developing tumor. The cross-talk between cancer cells and surrounding stromal cells is critical to disrupt normal tissue...

Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are adult stem cells that can differentiate into most connective tissue cell types, except for hematopoietic cells, depending upon the source of MSCs. For example, bone-marrow-derived MSCs (BM-MSCs) can differentiate into osteocytes, hepatocytes, and pancreatic and neuronal cells. MSCs can be isolated from various sources such as bone marrow, placenta, adipose tissue, teeth, and Wharton’s jelly, a gelatinous substance in the umbilical cord. The ease of their...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 24, 2026

A Novel Stromal Fibroblast-Modulated 3D Tumor Spheroid Model for Studying Tumor-Stroma Interaction and Drug Discovery

A Novel Stromal Fibroblast-Modulated 3D Tumor Spheroid Model for Studying Tumor-Stroma Interaction and Drug Discovery

Published on: February 28, 2020

Tumor Stroma Manipulation By MSC.

Giulia Grisendi, Carlotta Spano, Filippo Rossignoli

¹Laboratory of Cellular Therapy Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences for Children & Adults University-Hospital of Modena and Reggio Emilia Via del Pozzo 71, 41124 Modena, Italy. massimo.dominici@unimore.it.

Current Drug Targets

|March 9, 2016

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Tumor stroma (TS) is crucial in cancer progression. Manipulating TS with multipotent mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSC) shows promise for targeted cancer therapy, inducing tumor cell death with minimal toxicity.

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Last Updated: Mar 24, 2026

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Heteromulticellular Stromal Cells in Scaffold-free 3D Cultures of Epithelial Cancer Cells to Drive Invasion

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Published on: April 4, 2025

Area of Science:

Oncology
Stem Cell Biology
Cancer Immunology

Background:

Tumor stroma (TS) critically influences cancer development, including oncogenesis, immune evasion, and drug resistance.
Understanding cancer cell-stromal interactions is vital for developing new therapeutic strategies.
Multipotent mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSC) are explored as potential anti-cancer agents targeting TS.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate fundamental interactions between cancer cells and their stromal counterparts.
To explore the potential of MSC-mediated TS manipulation for anti-cancer therapies.
To evaluate the efficacy and safety of MSC-based strategies in targeting tumor growth.

Main Methods:

In vitro and in vivo studies analyzing cancer cell-stromal interactions.
Utilizing multimodal-armed MSC engineered to deliver apoptosis-inducing agents.
Assessing MSC localization, tumor targeting, and therapeutic effects in cancer models.

Main Results:

MSC demonstrated the ability to target various cancers in vitro.
In vivo studies showed MSC localization within tumors, mediating cancer cell death.
No significant toxicities were observed in normal tissues following MSC injection.

Conclusions:

TS manipulation using MSC represents a novel therapeutic avenue for cancer treatment.
MSC-based strategies offer a promising approach for influencing cancer cell fate.
Further research is needed to fully elucidate and optimize these anti-cancer strategies.