Cancer-associated fibroblast
tumor promoting cell type
A cancer-associated fibroblast (CAF) (also known as tumour-associated fibroblast; carcinogenic-associated fibroblast; activated fibroblast) is a cell type within the tumor microenvironment that promotes tumorigenic features by initiating the remodelling of the extracellular matrix or by secreting cytokines. CAFs are a complex and abundant cell type within the tumour microenvironment; the number cannot decrease, as they are unable to undergo apoptosis.
CAFs have been found to be abundant in a tumour stroma. Myofibroblasts and fibroblasts make up CAFs.
The functions of these CAFs have been known to stimulate angiogenesis, supporting the formation of tumours and thus proliferation of cancer cell and metastasis. Cancer cells are usually also drug resistant, which is contributed by CAFs. As such, this interaction is being studied for potential anti-cancer therapy.
Normal fibroblasts aid in the production of components of the extracellular matrix such as collagens, fibres, glycosaminoglycans and glycoproteins and are therefore vital in tissue repair in wound healing.
CAFs however, are derived from either normal fibroblasts, pericytes, smooth muscle cells, fibrocytes or mesenchymal stem cells These CAFs then go on to support tumour growth by secreting growth factors such as Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF), Platelet Derived Growth Factor (PDGF) and Fibroblast Growth Factor (FGF) and other chemokines to stimulate angiogenesis and thus the growth of a tumour.
Markers
CAFs produce a number of proteins that are specific to the origin of the cells.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Cancer-associated fibroblast” as tumor promoting cell type. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q42417562. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Cancer-associated fibroblast” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.