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Cancer Microenvironment

Section edited by Davide Bedognetti and Jessica Roelands

© © nopparit / Getty Images / iStock

The Cancer microenvironment section publishes research on the cellular and molecular components of the cancer microenvironment, with a particular focus on translational research that has important implications for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of human neoplasms.

Submissions that relate to the characterisation of the molecular profile and regulation of cancers at different tumour stages are especially welcome, as are those which identify specific cancer microenvironments that predict tumour incidence, response to therapy and outcome. Laboratory studies of new drugs and biological agents that target cancer microenvironments will also be considered.

Featured articles


microRNA-1271 impedes the development of prostate cancer by downregulating PES1 and upregulating ERβ

Research | Zhenming Jiang et al


Tumor microenvironment differences between primary tumor and brain metastases

Review | Bernardo Cacho-Díaz et al


Identification of key genes controlling breast cancer stem cell characteristics via stemness indices analysis

Research | Jianying Pei et al

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  1. Carcinoma associated fibroblasts (CAFs), an important component of tumor microenvironment, are capable of enhancing tumor cells invasion and migration through initiation of epithelial–mesenchymal transition (E...

    Authors: Songming Ding, Guoliang Chen, Wu Zhang, Chunyang Xing, Xiao Xu, Haiyang Xie, Aili Lu, Kangjie Chen, Haijun Guo, Zhigang Ren, Shusen Zheng and Lin Zhou
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2015 13:237
    Content type: Research Published on:

  2. We and others have extensively investigated the role of PARP-1 in cell growth and demise in response to pathophysiological cues. Most of the clinical trials on PARP inhibitors are targeting primarily estrogen ...

    Authors: Hogyoung Kim, Abdelmetalab Tarhuni, Zakaria Y Abd Elmageed and A Hamid Boulares
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2015 13:233
    Content type: Research Published on:

  3. In this era of precision medicine, the deep and comprehensive characterization of tumor phenotypes will lead to therapeutic strategies beyond classical factors such as primary sites or anatomical staging. Rece...

    Authors: Anna Halama, Bella S Guerrouahen, Jennifer Pasquier, Ilhem Diboun, Edward D Karoly, Karsten Suhre and Arash Rafii
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2015 13:223
    Content type: Research Published on:

  4. Cancer-associated fibroblast (CAF) is the most studied element of the tumor microenvironment, although no relationship has been identified between expression of their related proteins and the metastasis site. ...

    Authors: Hye Min Kim, Woo Hee Jung and Ja Seung Koo
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2015 13:222
    Content type: Research Published on:

  5. Oncolytic virotherapy is a novel approach for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) which is still a fatal disease. Pathologic features of GBM are characterized by the infiltration with microglia/macr...

    Authors: Christina Kober, Susanne Rohn, Stephanie Weibel, Ulrike Geissinger, Nanhai G Chen and Aladar A Szalay
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2015 13:216
    Content type: Research Published on:

  6. Since the mid-1950’s, melanoma incidence has been rising steadily in industrialized Caucasian populations, thereby pointing to the pivotal involvement of environmental factors in melanomagenesis. Recent eviden...

    Authors: Bodo C Melnik
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2015 13:202
    Content type: Review Published on:

  7. Oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (OTSCC) is still associated with a poor prognosis due to local recurrence and metastasis. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) play an important role in the complex processe...

    Authors: Huan Li, Ji Zhang, Shu-Wei Chen, Lu-lu Liu, Lei Li, Fan Gao, Shi-Min Zhuang, Li-ping Wang, Yan Li and Ming Song
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2015 13:198
    Content type: Research Published on:

  8. Adrenomedullin (AM) is a regulatory peptide whose involvement in tumour progression is becoming more relevant with recent studies. AM is produced and secreted by the tumour cells but also by numerous stromal c...

    Authors: Ignacio M Larráyoz, Sonia Martínez-Herrero, Josune García-Sanmartín, Laura Ochoa-Callejero and Alfredo Martínez
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2014 12:339
    Content type: Review Published on:

  9. Ovarian cancer is the deadliest gynaecologic malignancy. Despite progresses in chemotherapy and ultra-radical surgeries, this locally metastatic disease presents a high rate of local recurrence advocating for ...

    Authors: Cyril Touboul, Fabien Vidal, Jennifer Pasquier, Raphael Lis and Arash Rafii
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2014 12:271
    Content type: Review Published on:

  10. We previously confirmed that propofol directly inhibited the viability, proliferation, and invasiveness of hepatocellular carcinoma cells in vitro. In this study, we investigated the mechanism underlying the anti...

    Authors: Jian Zhang, Wei-feng Shan, Te-te Jin, Guo-qing Wu, Xiao-xing Xiong, Hai-yan Jin and Sheng-mei Zhu
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2014 12:279
    Content type: Research Published on:

  11. Human papillomavirus type-16 (HPV-16) E2 protein acts as a transcriptional modulator and plays a key role in regulating many biological responses. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship ...

    Authors: Zheng-lin Chen, Ya-juan Su, Hui-lin Zhang, Ping-qing Gu and Ling-juan Gao
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2014 12:286
    Content type: Research Published on:

  12. Aberrant AKT activation contributes to gastric cancer cell survival and chemotherapy resistance, however its regulation is poorly understood. microRNAs have been established to be important regulators in gastr...

    Authors: Wei Kang, Joanna HM Tong, Raymond WM Lung, Yujuan Dong, Weiqin Yang, Yi Pan, Kin Mang Lau, Jun Yu, Alfred SL Cheng and Ka Fai To
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2014 12:281
    Content type: Research Published on:

  13. Although several studies suggest that stromal fibroblasts mediate treatment resistance in several cancer types, little is known about how tumor-associated astrocytes modulate the treatment response in brain tu...

    Authors: Ning Yang, Tao Yan, Huaiyang Zhu, Xiao Liang, Lina Leiss, Per Øystein Sakariassen, Kai Ove Skaftnesmo, Bin Huang, Daniela Elena Costea, Per Øyvind Enger, Xingang Li and Jian Wang
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2014 12:278
    Content type: Research Published on:

  14. Galectin-3, a member of the beta-galactoside-binding lectin family, is a multifunctional protein with various biological functions, including the proliferation and differentiation of tumor cells, angiogenesis,...

    Authors: Shan-Shan Jiang, De-Sheng Weng, Qi-Jing Wang, Ke Pan, Yao-Jun Zhang, Yong-Qiang Li, Jian-Jun Li, Jing-Jing Zhao, Jia He, Lin Lv, Qiu-Zhong Pan and Jian-Chuan Xia
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2014 12:273
    Content type: Research Published on:

  15. The omentum is one of the initial sites for peritoneal metastasis because it possesses milky spots that provide a microenvironment for cancer cells to readily migrate and grow into micrometastases. This study ...

    Authors: Liang Cao, Xiang Hu, Jian Zhang, Gang Huang and Yi Zhang
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2014 12:267
    Content type: Research Published on:

  16. EGFR-targeted therapy is an attractive option for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients. We have recently reported the use of EGFR inhibitors as an adjunct treatment to enhance HLA-DR expression in tu...

    Authors: Takumi Kumai, Kensuke Oikawa, Naoko Aoki, Shoji Kimura, Yasuaki Harabuchi, Esteban Celis and Hiroya Kobayashi
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2014 12:265
    Content type: Research Published on:

  17. Recently, miR-10b is identified as a miRNA highly expressed in many human cancers, promoting cell migration and invasion. However, the specific function of miR-10b in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is unclear ...

    Authors: Cheng-gong Liao, Ling-min Kong, Ping Zhou, Xiu-li Yang, Jian-guo Huang, He-long Zhang and Ning Lu
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2014 12:234
    Content type: Research Published on:

  18. Angiogenesis plays a pivotal role in malignant tumour growth and the metastatic process. We analysed the prognostic value of two angiogenesis parameters, microRNA-126 (miRNA-126) and microvessel density (MVD),...

    Authors: Torben Frøstrup Hansen, Sanne Kjær-Frifeldt, Søren Morgenthaler, Thorarinn Blondal, Jan Lindebjerg, Anders Jakobsen and Flemming Brandt Sørensen
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2014 12:254
    Content type: Research Published on:

  19. The treatment of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) following early detection is associated with good outcomes. Therefore, the survival and prognosis of OSCC patients could be hugely improved by identifying r...

    Authors: Yi-Hui Lai, Ru-Yin He, Jian-Liang Chou, Michael W-Y Chan, Yu-Fen Li and Chien-Kuo Tai
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2014 12:237
    Content type: Research Published on:

  20. Expression of the long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) LOC285194 was previously shown to be correlated with aggressive clinicopathological features and poor prognosis in several cancers. The aim of the present study w...

    Authors: Yu-suo Tong, Xi-lei Zhou, Xiao-wei Wang, Qing-quan Wu, Tong-xin Yang, Jin Lv, Jin-song Yang, Bin Zhu and Xiu-feng Cao
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2014 12:233
    Content type: Research Published on:

  21. Epithelial ovarian carcinoma is the most lethal gynecological cancer due to its silent onset and recurrence with resistance to chemotherapy. Overexpression of oncogene c-Myc is one of the most frequently encou...

    Authors: Jiandong Wang, Xiaoli Ma, Hannah M Jones, Leo Li-Ying Chan, Fang Song, Weiyuan Zhang, Victoria L Bae-Jump and Chunxiao Zhou
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2014 12:226
    Content type: Research Published on:

  22. Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is the major histological type of esophageal cancer in developing countries. The prognosis and survival rate of ESCC are very poor. Recently, microRNAs (miRNAs) have e...

    Authors: Heping Li, Dayong Zheng, Bing Zhang, Liangshuai Liu, Junwei Ou, Wei Chen, Shiqiu Xiong, Yong Gu and Jianyong Yang
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2014 12:196
    Content type: Research Published on:

  23. Inflammatory factors play a vital role in the progression of liver cancer, although exact factors and related mechanisms still remain unclear. The present study aimed at screening inflammatory factors related ...

    Authors: Xiaojing Xu, Peixin Huang, Biwei Yang, Xiangdong Wang and Jinglin Xia
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2014 12:193
    Content type: Research Published on:

  24. As a surface glycoprotein, CD147 is capable of stimulating the production of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) from neighboring fibroblasts. The aim of the present study is to explore the role of soluble CD147 ...

    Authors: Jiao Wu, Zhi-Wei Hao, You-Xu Zhao, Xiang-Min Yang, Hao Tang, Xin Zhang, Fei Song, Xiu-Xuan Sun, Bin Wang, Gang Nan, Zhi-Nan Chen and Huijie Bian
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2014 12:190
    Content type: Research Published on:

  25. Disulfiram (DS), an anti-alcoholism drug, demonstrates strong antitumor activity in a copper (Cu)-dependent manner. This study investigates the cytotoxicity of DS/Cu complex in lymphoid malignant cell lines in vi...

    Authors: Jie Zha, Feili Chen, Huijuan Dong, Pengcheng Shi, Yao Yao, Yanyan Zhang, Rongwei Li, Shiyun Wang, Peng Li, Weiguang Wang and Bing Xu
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2014 12:163
    Content type: Research Published on:

  26. Tumour budding (TB), lymphatic vessel density (LVD) and lymphatic vessel invasion (LVI) have shown promise as prognostic factors in colorectal cancer (CRC) but reproducibility using conventional histopathology...

    Authors: Peter D Caie, Arran K Turnbull, Susan M Farrington, Anca Oniscu and David J Harrison
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2014 12:156
    Content type: Research Published on:

  27. Nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) induces a variety of biological processes through transcriptional gene control whose products are components in various signaling pathways. MicroRNAs are a small endogenous non-coding...

    Authors: Jian Zhang, Haidong Wu, Pu Li, Yanzheng Zhao, Min Liu and Hua Tang
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2014 12:155
    Content type: Research Published on:

  28. The goal of this study was to investigate the expression of sarcosine metabolism-related proteins, namely glycine N-methyltransferase (GNMT), sarcosine dehydrogenase (SARDH), and l-pipecolic acid oxidase (PIPOX),...

    Authors: Ja Kyung Yoon, Do Hee Kim and Ja Seung Koo
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2014 12:149
    Content type: Research Published on:

  29. Anti-angiogenic therapy inhibits tumor growth and is considered as a potential clinical therapy for malignant glioma. However, inevitable recurrences and unexpected tumor resistance, particularly increased inv...

    Authors: Cheng-Shi Xu, Ze-Fen Wang, Li-Ming Dai, Sheng-Hua Chu, Ling-Ling Gong, Ming-Huan Yang and Zhi-Qiang Li
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2014 12:148
    Content type: Research Published on:

  31. The use of autoantibodies for the early detection of breast cancer has generated much interest as antibodies can be readily assayed in serum when antigen levels are low. Ideally, diagnostic autoantibodies woul...

    Authors: Jianning Mao, Jon Ladd, Ekram Gad, Lauren Rastetter, Melissa M Johnson, Edmond Marzbani, Jennifer S Childs, Hailing Lu, Yushe Dang, Elizabeth Broussard, Sasha E Stanton, Sam M Hanash and Mary L Disis
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2014 12:121
    Content type: Research Published on:

  32. Soft tissue sarcomas (STSs) are a group of neoplasms, which, despite current therapeutic advances, still confer a poor outcome to half of the patients. As other solid tumors, STSs exhibit high glucose consumpt...

    Authors: Céline Pinheiro, Valter Penna, Filipa Morais-Santos, Lucas F Abrahão-Machado, Guilherme Ribeiro, Emílio C Curcelli, Marcus V Olivieri, Sandra Morini, Isabel Valença, Daniela Ribeiro, Fernando C Schmitt, Rui M Reis and Fátima Baltazar
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2014 12:118
    Content type: Research Published on:

  33. We studied whether thymidylate synthase (TS) genotype has an independent prognostic/predictive impact on a European population of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients receiving pemetrexed.

    Authors: Estefanía Arévalo, Eduardo Castañón, Inés López, Josefa Salgado, Víctor Collado, Marta Santisteban, María Rodríguez-Ruiz, Patricia Martín, Leire Zubiri, Ana Patiño-García, Christian Rolfo and Ignacio Gil-Bazo
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2014 12:98
    Content type: Research Published on:

  35. Reliable prognostic markers based on biopsy specimens of colorectal cancer (CRC) are currently missing. We hypothesize that assessment of T-cell infiltration in biopsies of CRC may predict patient survival and...

    Authors: Viktor H Koelzer, Alessandro Lugli, Heather Dawson, Marion Hädrich, Martin D Berger, Markus Borner, Makhmudbek Mallaev, José A Galván, Jennifer Amsler, Beat Schnüriger, Inti Zlobec and Daniel Inderbitzin
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2014 12:81
    Content type: Research Published on:

  36. Transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) signaling functions as a suppressor or a promoter in tumor development, depending on the tumor stage and type. However, the role of TGF-β signaling in nonfunctioning pituit...

    Authors: Li Zhenye, Li Chuzhong, Wu Youtu, Lan Xiaolei, Cao Lei, Hong Lichuan, Wang Hongyun, Wu Yonggang, Wang Fei and Zhang Yazhuo
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2014 12:71
    Content type: Research Published on:

  37. The cross talk between the stroma and cancer cells plays a major role in phenotypic modulation. During peritoneal carcinomatosis ovarian cancer cells interact with mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) resulting in inc...

    Authors: Raphael Lis, Cyril Touboul, Najeeb M Halabi, Abishek Sainath Madduri, Denis Querleu, Jason Mezey, Joel A Malek, Karsten Suhre and Arash Rafii
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2014 12:59
    Content type: Research Published on:

  39. Recently, involvement of the chemokine/receptor system CCL20/CCR6 in colorectal cancer (CRC) progression was shown. Here, we analyzed the functional interaction of miRNA-518-5p (miR-518a-5p) with CCR6 and its ...

    Authors: Claudia Rubie, Bianca Kruse, Vilma Oliveira Frick, Kathrin Kölsch, Pirus Ghadjar, Mathias Wagner, Friedrich Grässer, Stefan Wagenpfeil and Mathias Glanemann
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2014 12:48
    Content type: Research Published on:

  40. Stents are recommended in patients with dysphagia caused by esophageal stricture, but an ideal stent does not currently exist. Thus, studies on new esophageal stents are necessary, and suitable animal models a...

    Authors: Jin Huang, Jinquan Shuang, Guanyin Xiong, Xiang Wang, Yin Zhang, Xiaowei Tang, Zhining Fan, Yingzhou Shen, Hanming Song and Zhi Liu
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2014 12:40
    Content type: Methodology Published on:

  41. miR-200b has been reported to be a tumor suppressor and a promising therapeutic target in cancer. miR-200b has been associated with epithelial-mesenchymal transition and chemo-resistance in cancer. The aim of ...

    Authors: Feng Ye, Hailin Tang, Qing Liu, Xinhua Xie, Minqing Wu, Xiaoping Liu, Bo Chen and Xiaoming Xie
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2014 12:17
    Content type: Research Published on:

  42. Estrogen receptor-alpha36 (ER-α36) is a new isoform of estrogen receptors without transcriptional activation domains of the classical ER-α(ER − α66). ER-α36 is mainly located in cytoplasm and plasma membrane. ...

    Authors: Yu Gu, Tianxiang Chen, Elena López, Weizhu Wu, Xiangdong Wang, Jiang Cao and Lisong Teng
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2014 12:16
    Content type: Review Published on:

  43. The interaction between tumor cells and inflammatory cells has not been systematically investigated in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). The main aims of the study were to investigate the clinical sig...

    Authors: Jianbo Wang, Yibin Jia, Nana Wang, Xiaomei Zhang, Bingxu Tan, Guangyu Zhang and Yufeng Cheng
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2014 12:7
    Content type: Research Published on:

  44. The role of exosomes in the pathogenesis and metastatic spread of cancer remains to be fully elucidated. Recent studies support the hypothesis that the release of exosomes from cells modifies local extracellul...

    Authors: Miharu Kobayashi, Carlos Salomon, Jorge Tapia, Sebastian E Illanes, Murray D Mitchell and Gregory E Rice
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2014 12:4
    Content type: Research Published on:

  46. XB130 has been reported to be expressed by various types of cells such as thyroid cancer and esophageal cancer cells, and it promotes the proliferation and invasion of thyroid cancer cells. Our previous study ...

    Authors: Min Shi, Dayong Zheng, Li Sun, Lin Wang, Li Lin, Yajun Wu, Minyu Zhou, Wenjun Liao, Yulin Liao, Qiang Zuo and Wangjun Liao
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2014 12:1
    Content type: Research Published on:

  47. CD34+ progenitor cells comprise both hematopoietic and endothelial progenitor cells. Recent studies suggest that circulating endothelial progenitor cells are recruited into the angiogenic vascular system of sever...

    Authors: Barbara Vizio, Fiorella Biasi, Tiziana Scirelli, Anna Novarino, Adriana Prati, Libero Ciuffreda, Giuseppe Montrucchio, Giuseppe Poli and Graziella Bellone
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2013 11:314
    Content type: Research Published on:

  48. Raf-1 kinase inhibitor protein (RKIP) has emerged as a significant metastatic suppressor in a variety of human cancers and is known to inhibit Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK signaling. By suppressing the activation of the NF...

    Authors: Eva Karamitopoulou, Inti Zlobec, Beat Gloor, Agathi Kondi-Pafiti, Alessandro Lugli and Aurel Perren
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2013 11:311
    Content type: Research Published on:

  50. Conformal intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) involves irradiation of large volume of normal tissue with low and medium doses, biological relevance of which is not clear yet. Serum proteome features w...

    Authors: Piotr Widłak, Monika Pietrowska, Joanna Polańska, Tomasz Rutkowski, Karol Jelonek, Magdalena Kalinowska-Herok, Agnieszka Gdowicz-Kłosok, Andrzej Wygoda, Rafał Tarnawski and Krzysztof Składowski
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2013 11:299
    Content type: Research Published on:
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