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Peer-reviewedCC BY-NC-NDNeoplasia (New York, N.Y.)

Recent advances in cancer-associated fibroblasts in colorectal cancer: functional subtypes, spatiotemporal dynamics and therapeutic targets.

  • Yuang Ding1
  • Shaohui Zhang2
  • Yanfeng Guo3
  • Wenhua Xia2
  • Baocheng Fu4
  • Wenyu Di5
  • Wei Su5
  • Guangzhi Zhao6
  • Jiateng Zhong
6 affiliations
  1. 1Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan Medical University, Xinxiang, China; Department of Pathology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Henan Medical University, Xinxiang, China.
  2. 2Department of Pathology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Henan Medical University, Xinxiang, China.
  3. 3Xinxiang Key Laboratory of Precision Diagnosis and Treatment for Colorectal Cancer, Xinxiang First People's Hospital, Xinxiang, China.
  4. 4Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan Medical University, Xinxiang, China.
  5. 5Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan Medical University, Xinxiang, China; Xinxiang Engineering Technology Research Center of Digestive Tumor Molecular Diagnosis, The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan Medical University, Xinxiang, China.
  6. 6Department of General Practice, The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan Medical University, Xinxiang, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
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Abstract

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a malignant tumour with an extremely high global incidence rate; its development and progression are closely linked to fibroblasts within the tumour microenvironment (TME). In recent years, single-cell and spatial multi-omics technologies have revealed the high heterogeneity of fibroblasts in colorectal cancer and identified multiple subtypes with either oncogenic or tumour-suppressive functions. Within the TME, these fibroblast states have been associated with key processes in tumour initiation, progression, metastasis, and treatment resistance, although direct functional evidence for many of them remains to be established. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the origins, differentiation and activation trajectories, stage-associated distribution patterns, and spatial characteristics of fibroblasts, with a focus on newly identified functional states and their distributions across primary and metastatic CRC. Furthermore, given that the efficacy of current clinical treatments for fibroblasts remains less than satisfactory, there is still a need to develop effective targeted therapies for these newly identified subtypes in the future.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{ding2026recent,
  title = {{Recent advances in cancer-associated fibroblasts in colorectal cancer: functional subtypes, spatiotemporal dynamics and therapeutic targets.}},
  author = {Yuang Ding and Shaohui Zhang and Yanfeng Guo and Wenhua Xia and Baocheng Fu and Wenyu Di and Wei Su and Guangzhi Zhao and Jiateng Zhong},
  journal = {Neoplasia (New York, N.Y.)},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1016/j.neo.2026.101382},
  url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42892101},
  note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Recent advances in cancer-associated fibroblasts in colorectal cancer: functional subtypes, spatiotemporal dynamics and therapeutic targets.
AU  - Yuang Ding
AU  - Shaohui Zhang
AU  - Yanfeng Guo
AU  - Wenhua Xia
AU  - Baocheng Fu
AU  - Wenyu Di
AU  - Wei Su
AU  - Guangzhi Zhao
AU  - Jiateng Zhong
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/16
JO  - Neoplasia (New York, N.Y.)
DO  - 10.1016/j.neo.2026.101382
UR  - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42892101
AB  - Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a malignant tumour with an extremely high global incidence rate; its development and progression are closely linked to fibroblasts within the tumour microenvironment (TME). In recent years, single-cell and spatial multi-omics technologies have revealed the high heterogeneity of fibroblasts in colorectal cancer and identified multiple subtypes with either oncogenic or tumour-suppressive functions. Within the TME, these fibroblast states have been associated with key processes in tumour initiation, progression, metastasis, and treatment resistance, although direct functional evidence for many of them remains to be established. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the origins, differentiation and activation trajectories, stage-associated distribution patterns, and spatial characteristics of fibroblasts, with a focus on newly identified functional states and their distributions across primary and metastatic CRC. Furthermore, given that the efficacy of current clinical treatments for fibroblasts remains less than satisfactory, there is still a need to develop effective targeted therapies for these newly identified subtypes in the future.
SN  - 1522-8002
SN  - 1476-5586
ER  -