Yang Wu1,#,*, Dong Xu1,#, Run Shi1, Mingwei Zhan2, Shaohui Xu3, Xin Wang4, Jianpeng Zhang5, Zhaokai Zhou6, Weizhuo Wang7, Yongjie Wang8, Minglun Li9, Zihao Xu10,*, Kaifeng Su11,*
Oncology Research, Vol.34, No.2, 2026, DOI:10.32604/or.2025.073265
- 19 January 2026
Abstract Prostate cancer (PCa) remains a major cause of cancer-related mortality in men, largely due to therapy resistance and metastatic progression. Increasing evidence highlights the tumor microenvironment (TME), particularly cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), as a critical determinant of disease behavior. CAFs constitute a heterogeneous population originating from fibroblasts, mesenchymal stem cells, endothelial cells, epithelial cells undergoing epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT), and adipose tissue. Through dynamic crosstalk with tumor, immune, endothelial, and adipocyte compartments, CAFs orchestrate oncogenic processes including tumor proliferation, invasion, immune evasion, extracellular matrix remodeling, angiogenesis, and metabolic reprogramming. This review comprehensively summarizes the cellular origins, phenotypic More >