Role of cancer-associated fibroblasts in drug resistance of pancreatic cancer / 临床肝胆病杂志

ABSTRACT

Pancreatic cancer is one of the fatal malignant tumors, and its dense stroma, which accounts for 90% of the volume of pancreatic tumor, is the main reason for the low survival rate of pancreatic cancer. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are an important group of cells in the tumor stroma of pancreatic cancer, and activated CAFs induce a strong connective tissue interstitial reaction and secretes a variety of soluble molecules to remodel the extracellular matrix, thereby forming a microenvironment that helps with the proliferation, invasion, and metastasis of pancreatic cancer. At present, an increasing number of evidence has shown that CAFs play an important role in the drug resistance of pancreatic cancer, especially in chemotherapy and immunotherapy, and CAFs result in a low response rate of pancreatic cancer treatment by interfering with the metabolism of antitumor drugs, participating in the signaling pathways associated with drug resistance, and forming an immunosuppressive microenvironment. This article elaborates on the specific mechanism of CAFs participating in the drug resistance of pancreatic cancer from the two aspects of chemotherapy and immunotherapy, in order to provide new ideas for identifying new therapeutic targets for pancreatic cancer and improving the response rate of pancreatic cancer treatment.