Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts Play an Important Role in Early-Stage Mycosis Fungoides

Abstract

Research in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma has widened from the malignant T cell itself to the tumor microenvironment. In this issue of the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, Aronovich etal. (2020) report the presence of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) in mycosis fungoides (MFs). They show that CAFs are abundant in early-stage MF and that they differ from normal fibroblasts. Moreover, CAFs are described to promote MF by increasing the motility and chemoresistance of malignant T cells. Thus, targeting CAFs in MF may be of therapeutic value.