The tumor microenvironment, especially that of fibroblasts-associated with epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process, strongly promotes colorectal cancer (CRC) progression including cancer migration, invasion, and metastasis.

This study provides knowledge that the high proliferation of fibroblast-associated pro-inflammatory cytokine secretions is linked to an increased ability to induce cellular oxidative stress and HCT116 cancer progression through the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process. Fibroblast-cultured media (FCM) also caused cancer dissemination in the zebrafish model. Furthermore, thioredoxin reductase 1 (TrxR1)

expression was associated with FCM-inducing cancer progression. Thus, TrxR-1 is a potential biomarker to indicate fibroblast-associated colorectal cancer progression. TrxR-1 has been suggested as a biomarker candidate for colorectal cancer progression and prognostic evaluation in clinical applications.