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Updated: Aug 2, 2025

Isolation of Normal and Cancer-associated Fibroblasts from Fresh Tissues by Fluorescence Activated Cell Sorting FACS
Published on: January 14, 2013
Fibroblasts in cancer: Unity in heterogeneity
Yash Chhabra1, Ashani T Weeraratna1
1Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of Oncology, Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
Abstract:
Tumor cells do not exist in isolation in vivo, and carcinogenesis depends on the surrounding tumor microenvironment (TME), composed of a myriad of cell types and biophysical and biochemical components. Fibroblasts are integral in maintaining tissue homeostasis. However, even before a tumor develops, pro-tumorigenic fibroblasts in close proximity can provide the fertile 'soil' to the cancer 'seed' and are known as cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs). In response to intrinsic and extrinsic stressors, CAFs reorganize the TME enabling metastasis, therapeutic resistance, dormancy and reactivation by secreting cellular and acellular factors. In this review, we summarize the recent discoveries on CAF-mediated cancer progression with a particular focus on fibroblast heterogeneity and plasticity.
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