Role of exosomes in metastasis and therapeutic resistance in esophageal cancer

Figure 2 Cells promote metastasis and drug resistance of esophageal cancer in the tumor microenvironment. Esophageal cancer (EC)-cell derived exosomes can promote metastasis and drug resistance of EC by influencing cells in the tumor microenvironment (TME). Exosomes are involved in altering the number or function of immune cells in the TME, resulting in more EC cells evading the immune system. And, EC-cell derived exosomes may promote the proliferation of endothelial cells to form neovascularization and the proliferation of adjacent tumor cells. Moreover, EC-cell derived exosomes could launch the migration of EC cells from the primary tumor site to the secondary site. Additionally, originally sensitive EC cells could appear therapeutic resistance under the influence of exosomes secreted by neighboring drug-resistant cells. MDSCs: Myeloid-derived suppressor cells; CAF: Cancer-associated fibroblasts; EMT: Epithelial-mesenchymal transition.