Figure 2.

Myofibroblasts are the cell source for the cancer stem cell (CSC) niche in colon cancer. It has been suggested that myofibroblasts promote phenotypic changes from cancer cells to CSC in colon cancer. Type I collagen produced by myofibroblasts is probably involved in this dedifferentiation. Moreover, hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) produced by myofibroblasts enhances the Wnt signaling cascade of CSC in colon cancer. It has been suggested that a bone marrow stem cell population enters the tumor and differentiates into myofibroblasts.