EX P ER I ME NTAL C E LL RE S E ARCH
319 (2 013 ) 15 95
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/yexcr
Editorial
Introduction to tumor–stroma interactions This special issue of ECR presents a series of timely reviews discussing different cell types of the tumor microenvironment. The individual reviews gives a 2013 version of our understanding of how these cells contribute to tumor initiation, growth, progression and response to treatment. A series of recurring questions are being discussed in many of the reviews, dealing with fundamental biology of these cells: Which are the cells of origin? Which are the most relevant functional subsets? How do paracrine signaling and epigenetic mechanisms govern phenotype? What is the relationship between the genetic alterations of the cancer cell and the phenotype of the tumor microenvironment? This review collection will hopefully stimulate further work on these areas which are likely to yield significant results in the upcoming years. From a translational perspective it is noticed that the cells of the tumor microenvironment are becoming recognized as a source of independent prognostic information. The ability of the tumor microenvironment to modulate uptake and efficacy of cancer drugs is also being recognized and point towards tumor microenvironment-derived predictive markers. It is also likely that initial studies of microenvironmentally mediated evasive resistance to therapy will be further developed over the course of the next few years. A theme emerging from these findings, hinted at in some of the reviews, is the need for improved methods for clinically feasible global tumor microenvironment profiling. An obvious task for the next decade of tumor microenvironment studies is to translate the advances in tumor biology to successful drug development. Whereas VEGF-directed anti-angiogenic therapies are now well-established, the research field is
n
Corresponding author. Tel.: +46 851770232; fax: +46 8339031.
predicted to deliver novel evidence for therapeutic benefit of targeting other cells than endothelial cells. Such developments will have the chance to learn from accumulating experience of targeted therapies which are highlighting the need for stringent patient selection. As guest editors of this issue we acknowledge our sincere gratefulness to contributing authors and to ECR staff for technical support. It is our shared hope and belief that this collection of reviews will be of interest to both specialists and a general readership and also stimulate to bold, brave and beneficial advances. Sikhjälma and Räng Sand.
Guest Editors Arne Östmann Karolinska University Hospital, Solna, Department of Pathology–Oncology, Cancer Center Karolinska, R8:00, Stockholm SE-171 76, Sweden E-mail address: [email protected]
Kristian Pietras Lund University, Department of Laboratory Medicine Malmö, Center for Molecular Pathology, Jan Waldenströms Gata 58, SE-20502 Malmö, Sweden 0014-4827/$ - see front matter & 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.yexcr.2013.05.026
319 (2 013 ) 15 95
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/yexcr
Editorial
Introduction to tumor–stroma interactions This special issue of ECR presents a series of timely reviews discussing different cell types of the tumor microenvironment. The individual reviews gives a 2013 version of our understanding of how these cells contribute to tumor initiation, growth, progression and response to treatment. A series of recurring questions are being discussed in many of the reviews, dealing with fundamental biology of these cells: Which are the cells of origin? Which are the most relevant functional subsets? How do paracrine signaling and epigenetic mechanisms govern phenotype? What is the relationship between the genetic alterations of the cancer cell and the phenotype of the tumor microenvironment? This review collection will hopefully stimulate further work on these areas which are likely to yield significant results in the upcoming years. From a translational perspective it is noticed that the cells of the tumor microenvironment are becoming recognized as a source of independent prognostic information. The ability of the tumor microenvironment to modulate uptake and efficacy of cancer drugs is also being recognized and point towards tumor microenvironment-derived predictive markers. It is also likely that initial studies of microenvironmentally mediated evasive resistance to therapy will be further developed over the course of the next few years. A theme emerging from these findings, hinted at in some of the reviews, is the need for improved methods for clinically feasible global tumor microenvironment profiling. An obvious task for the next decade of tumor microenvironment studies is to translate the advances in tumor biology to successful drug development. Whereas VEGF-directed anti-angiogenic therapies are now well-established, the research field is
n
Corresponding author. Tel.: +46 851770232; fax: +46 8339031.
predicted to deliver novel evidence for therapeutic benefit of targeting other cells than endothelial cells. Such developments will have the chance to learn from accumulating experience of targeted therapies which are highlighting the need for stringent patient selection. As guest editors of this issue we acknowledge our sincere gratefulness to contributing authors and to ECR staff for technical support. It is our shared hope and belief that this collection of reviews will be of interest to both specialists and a general readership and also stimulate to bold, brave and beneficial advances. Sikhjälma and Räng Sand.
Guest Editors Arne Östmann Karolinska University Hospital, Solna, Department of Pathology–Oncology, Cancer Center Karolinska, R8:00, Stockholm SE-171 76, Sweden E-mail address: [email protected]
Kristian Pietras Lund University, Department of Laboratory Medicine Malmö, Center for Molecular Pathology, Jan Waldenströms Gata 58, SE-20502 Malmö, Sweden 0014-4827/$ - see front matter & 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.yexcr.2013.05.026
