Abstract

It is now recognised that non-malignant components within the tumour microenvironment (TME) also influence tumour development and progression. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are often the most abundant cell type within the tumour stroma. Here, they actively participate in the reciprocal communication between tumour cells and other host cells in the TME to create a tumour-permissive microenvironment in a number of epithelial tumours, including those of the head and neck. CAFs share many characteristics with fibroblasts found within healing wounds and demonstrate a perpetually “active,” alpha-smooth muscle actin positive phenotype. In this talk, I will describe the functional role of CAFs in head and neck cancers (oral and nasopharyngeal carcinomas) and discuss the signalling pathways involved in CAF activation. Finally, the possibility of targeting CAFs therapeutically will be discussed.