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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Sep 7, 2015; 21(33): 9717-9726
Published online Sep 7, 2015. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i33.9717
Role of cancer-associated fibroblasts in invasion and metastasis of gastric cancer
Yu Yan, Li-Feng Wang, Rui-Fen Wang
Yu Yan, Li-Feng Wang, Rui-Fen Wang, Department of Pathology, Xin Hua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200092, China
Author contributions: Wang LF designed this review; Yan Y and Wang RF wrote the manuscript; Yan Y and Wang RF edited the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: We declare that there are no conflicts of interest related to this work.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Li-Feng Wang, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Pathology, Xin Hua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 1665 Kongjiang Road, Shanghai 200092, China. wlf6009@163.com
Telephone: +86-21-25077215 Fax: +86-21-25077215
Received: April 24, 2015
Peer-review started: April 26, 2015
First decision: May 18, 2015
Revised: June 5, 2015
Accepted: July 18, 2015
Article in press: July 18, 2015
Published online: September 7, 2015
Abstract

Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are important components of various types of tumors, including gastric cancer (GC). During tumorigenesis and progression, CAFs play critical roles in tumor invasion and metastasis via a series of functions including extracellular matrix deposition, angiogenesis, metabolism reprogramming and chemoresistance. However, the mechanism of the interaction between gastric cancer cells and CAFs remains largely unknown. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of non-coding small RNA molecules, and their expression in CAFs not only regulates the expression of a number of target genes but also plays an essential role in the communication between tumor cells and CAFs. In this review, we provide an overview of recent studies on CAF miRNAs in GC and the relevant signaling pathways in gastrointestinal tumors. Focusing the attention on these signaling pathways may help us better understand their role in tumor invasion and metastasis and identify new molecular targets for therapeutic strategies.

Keywords: Cancer-associated fibroblasts, MicroRNA, Signaling pathway, Invasion, Gastric cancer, Metastasis

Core tip: Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common cancers worldwide. GC usually metastasizes to distant organs in advanced stages. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) play an important role in GC invasion and metastasis. Therefore, a better understanding of the special interaction between GC cells and CAFs may be useful for identifying the underlying mechanisms of tumor progression.