REVIEW article
Oncol. Rev.
Sec. Oncology Reviews: Reviews
Volume 19 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/or.2025.1617487
This article is part of the Research TopicTargeting cancer-associated fibroblasts: Disrupting immune evasion and therapy resistanceView all 4 articles
Fibroblast Activation Protein and the Tumour Microenvironment: Challenges and Therapeutic Opportunities
Provisionally accepted
- Fiona Stanley Hospital, Perth, Australia
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Fibroblast Activation Protein (FAP) has emerged as a critical player in cancer biology, particularly in shaping the tumour microenvironment (TME) and influencing immunotherapy outcomes. FAP-positive cancerassociated fibroblasts (CAFs) play multiple roles in tumour progression and immune modulation. FAP, predominantly expressed on CAFs, contributes significantly to extracellular matrix remodelling, angiogenesis, and the creation of an immunosuppressive milieu. There are complex interactions between FAP-positive CAFs and various components of the immune system, highlighting their impact on T cell function and macrophage polarisation. This makes FAP a promising target for cancer therapy and potentially as a biomarker for immunotherapy treatment response. This review highlights the clinical challenges to target FAP and also addresses the heterogeneity of CAFs with the need for more refined characterisation to enhance therapeutic strategies and future research directions.
Keywords: fibroblast activation protein (FAP), Cancer associate fibroblasts (CAFs), tumour microenvironment (TME), Immunotherapy, Cancer
Received: 24 Apr 2025; Accepted: 08 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Lee and Al-Ogaili. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Hsing Hwa Lee, Fiona Stanley Hospital, Perth, Australia
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