Cancer remains the second leading cause of death in the world, despite significant improvements that have been made in diagnosis and therapy. This is partly due to the fact that most of the therapeutic agents that have been developed target tumor cells and ignore the tumor microenvironment. Currently, there is an increased interest in understanding the role of the microenvironment in tumor growth and progression, which has prompted a new paradigm of cancer treatment: targeting the tumor stroma. The stroma can make up more than 50% of the tumor node mass and coordinate proliferation, local invasion, and eventually metastasis of cancer cells into surrounding tissues. The stroma includes an extracellular matrix, immune cells, tumor vascular network, fibroblasts, neuroendocrine cells, and fat cells. Malignant cells recruit stromal cells to remodel the tissue structure and isolate growth stimuli and intermediate metabolites. As a result, stromal components contribute to multiple processes of oncogenesis, which include tumor growth, invasion, metastasis, and resistance to therapy. Cancer-associated fibroblasts play an important role in these processes. This review examines the main mechanisms of intercellular interactions in the tumor stroma, including their regulation and role in oncogenesis.

尽管在诊断和治疗方面取得了显着进步，但癌症仍然是世界上第二大死因。这部分是由于这样一个事实，即大多数已开发的治疗剂都以肿瘤细胞为靶点，而忽略了肿瘤微环境。目前，人们对了解微环境在肿瘤生长和进展中的作用越来越感兴趣，这催生了一种新的癌症治疗模式：靶向肿瘤间质。间质占肿瘤结块的50%以上，协调增殖、局部浸润，最终转移至周围组织。间质包括细胞外基质、免疫细胞、肿瘤血管网络、成纤维细胞、神经内分泌细胞和脂肪细胞。恶性细胞募集基质细胞以重塑组织结构并分离生长刺激物和中间代谢物。因此，基质成分有助于肿瘤发生的多个过程，包括肿瘤生长、侵袭、转移和对治疗的抵抗。癌症相关的成纤维细胞在这些过程中起着重要作用。本综述探讨了肿瘤间质中细胞间相互作用的主要机制，包括它们在肿瘤发生中的调节和作用。