# Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs)

Source: https://onco.cc/terms/cancer-associated-fibroblasts/  
OnCo record `cancer-associated-fibroblasts` (Term). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

The scaffolding cells that tumours recruit to build scar-like tissue around themselves. They feed the cancer, block drugs and immune cells, and carry the FAP protein that PET scans can now see.

## Summary

Heterogeneous (myCAF, iCAF, apCAF); sources include resident fibroblasts, stellate cells, and mesenchymal stem cells. Secrete TGF-β, IL-6, CXCL12; deposit ECM. Depletion experiments show both pro- and anti-tumour roles, so targeting is moving toward reprogramming (vitamin D receptor agonists) and FAP-directed theranostics.

## Fields

- Kind: Term
- Last checked: 2026-09-08

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cancer-associated_fibroblast
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cancer-associated_fibroblast

## Connected records

- technologies: [FAPI PET](https://onco.cc/technologies/fapi-pet/), [Radioligand therapy (beta emitters)](https://onco.cc/technologies/radioligand-therapy/)
- targets: [FAP](https://onco.cc/targets/fap/)
- pathways: [Fibroblast activation, desmoplasia & matrix stiffness](https://onco.cc/pathways/caf-activation-desmoplasia/), [Invasion: proteases, adhesion & the invasive front](https://onco.cc/pathways/invasion-ecm-degradation/), [TGF-β signalling](https://onco.cc/pathways/tgf-beta/), [Tumour microenvironment (TME)](https://onco.cc/pathways/tumor-microenvironment/)
- terms: [Desmoplasia (tumour stroma)](https://onco.cc/terms/desmoplasia/), [Mechanical theory: stiffness, pressure and force as causes](https://onco.cc/terms/mechanical-theory-of-cancer/), [Microenvironment and inflammation: tumours as wounds that do not heal](https://onco.cc/terms/microenvironment-inflammation-theory/), [Tissue organisation field theory (Sonnenschein and Soto)](https://onco.cc/terms/tissue-organisation-field-theory/)
- key papers: [Depletion of carcinoma-associated fibroblasts and fibrosis induces immunosuppression and accelerates pancreas cancer with reduced survival](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-ozdemir-caf-depletion-accelerates-pancreatic-cancer-cancer-cell-2014/), [Quail and Joyce 2013: microenvironmental regulation of tumour progression and metastasis](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-quail-joyce-microenvironment-metastasis-natmed-2013/), [Virtual microdissection identifies distinct tumor- and stroma-specific subtypes of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-moffitt-virtual-microdissection-subtypes-nat-genet-2015/)
- roadmaps: [Pancreatic cancer roadmap: from Whipple's operation to gemcitabine, FOLFIRINOX, adjuvant chemotherapy, PARP inhibition, KRAS inhibition, vaccines and the surveillance question](https://onco.cc/roadmaps/pancreatic-roadmap/)
- ideas: [Reprogramme the stroma rather than remove it: second-generation stromal trials with a stromal biomarker and a survival endpoint](https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-pdac-stromal-reprogramming-not-depletion/)

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