Skip to main content
. 2021 Jan 7;13(2):183. doi: 10.3390/cancers13020183

Table 1.

Examples of tumor-related functions which have been linked to factors expressed or secreted by certain cancer-associated fibroblast (CAF) populations in human advanced colorectal cancers (CRCs).

CAF Metadata Role in CRC Progression Clinical Relevance
Name of Factor Characteristics of CAFs Expressing or Secreting This Factor Characteristics of Tumors Which the CAFs Originated From CRC Proliferation CRC Invasion/Migration Angiogenesis Therapy Resistance Immune Evasion Organ Metastasis Association High Expression Levels in CAFs & Poor Clinical Outcomes
Exosomal circular RNA SLC7A6 [112] - Primary tumor;
no neo-adjuvant treatment		 ↑ ↑ - - - - Yes [112]
HIC-5 [109] Co-localization with α-SMA Primary tumor ↑ - - - - - -
COX-2 [142,143] - Primary tumor ↑ - - - - - -
Snail-1 [110] Co-localization with α-SMA and FAP Primary tumor ↑ ↑ - - - - Yes [144]
FGF-1 [111] Vimentin-positive Primary tumor ↑ ↑ ↑ - - - -
FGF-3 [111] Vimentin-positive Primary tumor ↑ ↑ ↑ - - - -
Wnt2 [114,115,116] - Primary tumor;
rectum; stage II-IV; well/moderate differentiation [114].
Not described in [115,116]		 ↑ ↑ ↑ - - - Yes [114,115]
miRNA-21 [118,119] - Primary tumor; rectum & sigmoid; stage II-III; well/moderate differentiation; microsatellite stable; no neo-adjuvant treatment ↑ ↑ - - - ↑ Yes [117]
CD10 [81] - Primary tumor; rectum and colon; stage II-III; well/moderate differentiation ↑ ↑ - - - - -
CLEC3B [145] - Primary tumor - ↑ - - - - Yes [145] 1
Podoplanin [79] - - - ↓ - - - - No [79,80] 2
SPARC [146] - Primary tumor - ↑ - - - - Yes [146]
IGF-2 [147] - Primary tumor = ↑ - - - ↑ Yes [147]
RAB31 [148] Co-localization with α-SMA and vimentin Primary tumor = ↑ - - - - Yes [148]
CCBE1 [149] Co-localization with α-SMA Primary tumor - - ↑ - - - Yes [149]
miRNA-31 [122] - Primary tumor;
no neo-adjuvant treatment		 - - - ↑ - - -
miRNA-93–5p [123] - Primary tumor - - - ↑ - - -
CRC-associated lncRNA [125] FAP-positive, co-localization with α-SMA Primary tumor - - - ↑ - - -
lncRNA H19 [124] - Primary tumor - - - ↑ - - -
TGF-β2 [126] - Primary tumor - - - ↑ - - Yes [126]
CXCL5 [136] - Primary tumor - - - - ↑ - -
CD70 [138] Co-localization with α-SMA and FAP Primary tumor - ↑ - - ↑ - Yes [138,141]
CD73 [140] Co-localization with α-SMA Primary tumor - - - - ↑ - Yes [140]
Endoglin [150] Co-localization with α-SMA Primary tumor - - - - - ↑ Yes [150]
BMP2 [151] - Primary tumor - ↑ - - - ↑ Yes [151] 3
IL-11 [63] FAP-positive Primary tumor - - - - - ↑ -
STC1 [152] - Primary tumor - ↑ - - - ↑ -

1 Combined with high expression of α-SMA. 2 High expression levels of podoplanin in CAFs were associated with favorable clinical outcomes in CRC patients. 3 Only in patients with SMAD4-deficient tumors. CAF: cancer-associated fibroblast, CRC: colorectal cancer, ECM: extracellular matrix, α-SMA: alpha smooth muscle actin, FAP: fibroblast activation protein, COX-2: cyclooxigenase-2, HIC-5: hydrogen peroxide-inducible clone-5, FGF: fibroblast growth factor, miRNA: microRNA, CD: cluster of differentiation, RAB31: Ras-related protein RAB-31, CLEC3B: C-type lectin domain family 3 member B, SPARC: secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine, IGF-2: insulin-like growth factor 2, CCBE1: collagen and calcium-binding epidermal growth factor domain 1, lncRNA: long non-coding RNA, TGF- β2: transforming growth factor-β2, CXCL5: C-X-C motif chemokine 5, BMP2: bone morphogenetic protein 2, IL-11: interleukin 11, STC1: stanniocalcin-1. ↑ indicates a tumor-promoting role, ↓ indicates a tumor-suppressing role, = indicates a neutral role (i.e., neither tumor-promoting nor tumor-suppressing).