Combined Effects of Pericytes in the Tumor Microenvironment

Figure 2

Interplay between pericytes and cancer stem cells. In brain cancer, the perivascular niche is critical to the maintenance of CSC pool. Perivascular cells promote self-renewal and impair differentiation of CSC. In turn, new pericytes may be generated by CSC, contributing to tumor angiogenesis and tumor scape from immune destruction. This reciprocal interaction between pericytes and CSC is highly beneficial to tumor development.