Research Advances in Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts in Prostate Cancer Progression.

The tumor microenvironment (TME) is crucial for tumor growth and progression, within which cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) play a central role in regulating cancer cell proliferation, metastasis, and therapy resistance through various mechanisms. Although early-stage prostate cancer (PCa) has a high cure rate, advanced disease often becomes difficult to manage due to resistance to standard therapies such as androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). Therefore, a deep understanding of the interaction mechanisms between CAFs and PCa cells is essential for developing novel therapeutic strategies targeting resistant advanced PCa. This review systematically summarizes key signaling pathways and molecular mechanisms through which CAFs promote PCa progression, as recently discovered, evaluates the potential of CAFs as prognostic biomarkers, and discusses novel CAF-based therapeutic targets and intervention strategies for PCa.