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. 2021 Oct 18;19:437. doi: 10.1186/s12967-021-03112-w

Fig. 2.

Fig. 2

Side-by-side comparison of radiation effects exerted on normal fibroblasts and cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs). Compared to their normal counterparts, CAFs exhibit higher proliferation and migration rates, and actively participate in sustaining a pro-inflammatory and immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Exposure to ionizing radiation (IR) in vitro have been shown to activate normal tissue resident fibroblasts, rendering them more pro-tumorigenic, whereas the effects of radiation on CAF tumorigenic functions remain controversial. NFs normal fibroblasts; iNFs irradiated normal fibroblasts; iCAFs irradiated CAFs