Mechanical force-mediated interactions between cancer cells and fibroblasts and their role in the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma

Mechanical forces play a key role in the initiation and progression of cancer. Intercellular interactions between fibroblasts and cancer cells contribute a large portion of the mechanical forces in tumor tissue. Hence, further investigation of the mechanical force-mediated intercellular interactions between cancer cells and fibroblasts is urgently needed, given the slow progress in the management of various solid cancers. In our previous study, we observed obvious mechanical force-mediated interactions between hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells and fibroblasts through integrins and ECM proteins by using our coculture model and discovered that these interactions play important roles in 3D structure formation and tumor growth, suggesting their potential application in HCC treatment. In this review, we summarize the recent research progress in this field in hopes of providing insight into the development of potential anticancer strategies, with a special focus on HCC.