Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Myofibroblasts has always been a controversial topic since was found in 1971. Recent studies suggest that the cells may play an important role in cancer occurrence and development process.
OBJECTIVE: To explore the biological characteristics of myofibroblasts and the role of tumor stromal fibroblasts in tumor growth and invasion.
METHODS: Literatures about myofibroblast were retrieved from Wanfang database and Pubmed database (1990-01/2010-01) by the first author. The index words were “myofibroblast; tumor; TGF-β; aggressiveness” both in English and Chinese, respectively. The articles related to myofibroblasts and tumor stromal fibroblasts were selected, articles in the same field published in recent years or in authorized journals. A total of 116 literatures were primarily selected, and 41 documents of them were involved for summarization according to the inclusion criteria.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Myofibroblasts have the characteristics of smooth muscle cells and fibroblast, tumor interstitial myofibroblasts is the regulation of cell-derived cytokines from fibroblasts transformed by directly stimulating the proliferation and survival of cancer cells to promote tumor growth, and by hydrolysis cellular matrix and stimulates tumor cell motility to occur invasion. The emergence of myofibroblasts contributes to the early diagnosis of tumors and to explore new ways of cancer treatment.