Chemotherapy resistance and stromal targets in breast cancer treatment: a review.

Chemotherapy resistance and stromal targets in breast cancer treatment: a review. Mol Biol Rep. 2020 Oct 01;: Authors: van der Spek YM, Kroep JR, Tollenaar RAEM, Mesker WE Abstract Therapy resistance is a known problem in breast cancer and is associated with a variety of mechanisms. The role of the tumor microenvironment in cancer development and resistance mechanisms is becoming increasingly understood. Tumor-stroma is the main component of the tumor microenvironment. Stromal cells like cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are believed to contribute to chemotherapy resistance via the production of several secreted factors like cytokines and chemokines. CAFs are found to influence disease progression; patients with primary tumors with a high amount of tumor-stroma have a significantly worse outcome. Therefore the role of CAFs resistance mechanisms makes them a promising target in anti-cancer therapy. An overview of recent advances in strategies to target breast cancer stroma is given and the current literature regarding these stromal targets is discussed. CAF-specific proteins as well as secreted molecules involved in tumor-stroma interactions provide possibilities for stroma-specific therapy. The development of stroma-specific therapy is still in its infancy and the available literature is limited. Within the scope of personalized treatment, biomarkers based on the tumor-stroma have future potential for the improvement of treatment ...
Source: Molecular Biology Reports - Category: Molecular Biology Authors: Tags: Mol Biol Rep Source Type: research