Review Article

The Crosstalk between Cancer Stem Cells and Microenvironment Is Critical for Solid Tumor Progression: The Significant Contribution of Extracellular Vesicles

Figure 2

Specific interaction between microenvironment/metastatic niche components (i.e., fibroblasts, adipocytes, and macrophages) and organ-specific tumor cells through EVs, described in detail in the text. Tumor spheres are representative of a CSC-enriched tumor compartment, while tumor cells indicated a differentiated compartment. Green arrows indicated EV-mediated signals from microenvironment to tumor, blue arrows indicated EV-mediated signals from tumor to microenvironment, and light pink arrows indicated autocrine signaling mediated by EVs from tumor cells to the tumor sphere and vice versa.