Browse
Submit Data
Databases
API
Help

Dataset Information

27 Views

0 Connections

0 Citations

0 Reanalyses

0 Downloads

Omics score: 0

Understanding and targeting cancer stem cells: therapeutic implications and challenges.

ABSTRACT: Cancer stem cells (CSCs) have been identified as rare cell populations in many cancers, including leukemia and solid tumors. Accumulating evidence has suggested that CSCs are capable of self-renewal and differentiation into various types of cancer cells. Aberrant regulation of gene expression and some signaling pathways has been observed in CSCs compared to other tumor cells. CSCs are thought to be responsible for cancer initiation, progression, metastasis, recurrence and drug resistance. The CSC hypothesis has recently attracted much attention due to the potential for discovery and development of CSC-related therapies and the identification of key molecules involved in controlling the unique properties of CSC populations. Over the past several years, a tremendous amount of effort has been invested in the development of new drugs, such as nanomedicines, that can take advantage of the "Achilles' heel" of CSCs by targeting cell-surface molecular markers or various signaling pathways. Novel compounds and therapeutic strategies that selectively target CSCs have been identified, some of which have been evaluated in preclinical and clinical studies. In this article, we review new findings related to the investigation of the CSC hypothesis, and discuss the crucial pathways involved in regulating the development of CSC populations and the advances in studies of drug resistance. In addition, we review new CSC-targeted therapeutic strategies aiming to eradicate malignancies.

SUBMITTER: Chen K

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3674516 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Json Xml

Similar Datasets

Therapeutic strategies targeting cancer stem cells.

Project description:Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are undifferentiated cancer cells with a high tumorigenic activity, the ability to undergo self-renewal, and a multilineage differentiation potential. Cancer stem cells are responsible for the development of tumor cell heterogeneity, a key feature for resistance to anticancer treatments including conventional chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and molecularly targeted therapy. Furthermore, minimal residual disease, the major cause of cancer recurrence and metastasis, is enriched in CSCs. Cancer stem cells also possess the property of "robustness", which encompasses several characteristics including a slow cell cycle, the ability to detoxify or mediate the efflux of cytotoxic agents, resistance to oxidative stress, and a rapid response to DNA damage, all of which contribute to the development of therapeutic resistance. The identification of mechanisms underlying such characteristics and the development of novel approaches to target them will be required for the therapeutic elimination of CSCs and the complete eradication of tumors. In this review, we focus on two prospective therapeutic approaches that target CSCs with the aim of disrupting their quiescence or redox defense capability.

| S-EPMC4724810 | biostudies-other

Chronic myeloid leukemia stem cells: targeting therapeutic implications.

Project description:Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a clonal myeloproliferative neoplasm driven by BCR-ABL1 oncoprotein, which plays a pivotal role in CML pathology, diagnosis, and treatment as confirmed by the success of tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy. Despite advances in the development of more potent tyrosine kinase inhibitors, some mechanisms particularly in terms of CML leukemic stem cell (CML LSC) lead to intrinsic or acquired therapy resistance, relapse, and disease progression. In fact, the maintenance CML LSCs in patients who are resistance to TKI therapy indicates the role of CML LSCs in resistance to therapy through survival mechanisms that are not completely dependent on BCR-ABL activity. Targeting therapeutic approaches aim to eradicate CML LSCs through characterization and targeting genetic alteration and molecular pathways involving in CML LSC survival in a favorable leukemic microenvironment and resistance to apoptosis, with the hope of providing a functional cure. In other words, it is possible to develop the combination therapy of TKs with drugs targeting genes or molecules more specifically, which is required for survival mechanisms of CML LSCs, while sparing normal HSCs for clinical benefits along with TKIs.

| S-EPMC8684082 | biostudies-literature

Molecular signaling in cancer stem cells of tongue squamous cell carcinoma: Therapeutic implications and challenges.

Project description:Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma is the seventh most common cancer worldwide with high mortality rates. Amongst oral cavity cancers, tongue carcinoma is a very common and aggressive oral cavity carcinoma. Despite the implementation of a multimodality treatment regime including surgical intervention, chemo-radiation as well as targeted therapy, tongue carcinoma shows a poor overall 5-year survival pattern, which is attributed to therapy resistance and recurrence of the disease. The presence of a rare population, i.e., cancer stem cells (CSCs) within the tumor, are involved in therapy resistance, recurrence, and distant metastasis that results in poor survival patterns. Therapeutic agents targeting CSCs have been in clinical trials, although they are unable to reach into therapy stage which is due to their failure in trials. A more detailed understanding of the CSCs is essential for identifying efficient targets. Molecular signaling pathways, which are differentially regulated in the CSCs, are one of the promising targets to manipulate the CSCs that would provide an improved outcome. In this review, we summarize the current understanding of molecular signaling associated with the maintenance and regulation of CSCs in tongue squamous cell carcinoma in order to emphasize the need of the hour to get a deeper understanding to unravel novel targets.

| S-EPMC10277967 | biostudies-literature

Therapeutic targeting of gastrointestinal cancer stem cells.

Project description:Gastrointestinal cancers remain a tremendous burden on society. Despite advances in therapy options, including chemotherapy and radiation, cancer mortality from recurrences and metastases occur frequently. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) drive disease recurrence and metastasis, as these cells are uniquely equipped to self-renew and evade therapy. Therefore, cancer eradication requires treatment strategies that target CSCs in addition to differentiated cancer cells. This review highlights current literature on therapies targeting CSCs in gastrointestinal cancer.

| S-EPMC6886570 | biostudies-literature

New Advances and Challenges of Targeting Cancer Stem Cells.

Project description:The second International Cancer Stem Cell Conference in Cleveland, Ohio, on September 20-23, 2016, convened 330 attendees from academic, industrial, and clinical organizations. It featured a debate on the concepts and challenges of the cancer stem cells (CSC) as well as CSC-centered scientific sessions on clinical trials, genetics and epigenetics, tumor microenvironment, immune suppression, metastasis, therapeutic resistance, and emerging novel concepts. The conference hosted 35 renowned speakers, 100 posters, 20 short talks, and a preconference workshop. The reported advances of CSC research and therapies fostered new collaborations across national and international borders, and inspired the next generation's young scientists. Cancer Res; 77(19); 5222-7. ©2017 AACR.

| S-EPMC5833988 | biostudies-literature

Metabolism-Based Therapeutic Strategies Targeting Cancer Stem Cells.

Project description:Cancer heterogeneity constitutes the major source of disease progression and therapy failure. Tumors comprise functionally diverse subpopulations, with cancer stem cells (CSCs) as the source of this heterogeneity. Since these cells bear in vivo tumorigenicity and metastatic potential, survive chemotherapy and drive relapse, its elimination may be the only way to achieve long-term survival in patients. Thanks to the great advances in the field over the last few years, we know now that cellular metabolism and stemness are highly intertwined in normal development and cancer. Indeed, CSCs show distinct metabolic features as compared with their more differentiated progenies, though their dominant metabolic phenotype varies across tumor entities, patients and even subclones within a tumor. Following initial works focused on glucose metabolism, current studies have unveiled particularities of CSC metabolism in terms of redox state, lipid metabolism and use of alternative fuels, such as amino acids or ketone bodies. In this review, we describe the different metabolic phenotypes attributed to CSCs with special focus on metabolism-based therapeutic strategies tested in preclinical and clinical settings.

| S-EPMC6438930 | biostudies-literature

Targeting Cancer Stem Cells-A Renewed Therapeutic Paradigm.

Project description:Metastasis is often accompanied by radio- and chemotherapeutic resistance to anticancer treatments and is the major cause of death in cancer patients. Better understanding of how cancer cells circumvent therapeutic insults and how disseminated cancer clones generate life-threatening metastases would therefore be paramount to the development of effective therapeutic approaches for clinical management of malignant disease. Mounting reports over the past two decades have provided evidence for the existence of a minor population of highly malignant cells within liquid and solid tumors, which are capable of self-renewing and of regenerating secondary growths with the heterogeneity of the primary tumors from which they derive. These cells, called tumor-initiating cells or cancer stem cells (CSCs) exhibit increased resistance to standard radio- and chemotherapies and appear to have mechanisms that enable them to evade immune surveillance. CSCs are therefore considered to be responsible for systemic residual disease after cancer therapy, as well as for disease relapse. How CSCs develop, the nature of the interactions they establish with their microenvironment, their phenotypic and functional characteristics, as well as their molecular dependencies have all taken center stage in cancer therapy. Indeed, improved understanding of CSC biology is critical to the development of important CSC-based anti-neoplastic approaches that have the potential to radically improve cancer management. Here, we summarize some of the most pertinent elements regarding CSC development and properties, and highlight some of the clinical modalities in current development as anti-CSC therapeutics.

| S-EPMC8098671 | biostudies-literature

Endometrial Cancer Stem Cells: Role, Characterization and Therapeutic Implications.

Project description:Endometrial cancer (EC) is the most frequent gynecological cancer. In patients with relapsed and advanced disease, prognosis is still dismal and development of resistance is common. In this context, endometrial Cancer Stem Cells (eCSC), stem-like cells capable to self-renewal and differentiation in mature cancer cells, represent a potential field of expansion for drug development. The aim of this review is to characterize the role of eCSC in EC, their features and how they could be targeted. CSC are involved in progression, invasiveness and metastasis (though epithelial to mesenchimal transition, EMT), as well as chemoresistance in EC. Nevertheless, isolation of eCSC is still controversial. Indeed, CD133, Aldheyde dehydrogenase (ALDH), CD117, CD55 and CD44 are enriched in CSCs but there is no universal marker nowadays. The most frequently activated pathways in eCSC are Wingless-INT (Wnt)/?-catenin, Notch1, and Hedghog, with a high expression of self-renewal transcription factors like Octamer binding transcription factor 4 (OCT), B Lymphoma Mo-MLV Insertion Region 1 Homolog (BMI1), North American Network Operations Group Homebox protein (NANOG), and SRY-Box 2 (SOX2). These pathways have been targeted with selective drugs alone or in combination with chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Unfortunately, although preclinical results are encouraging, few clinical data are available.

| S-EPMC6896186 | biostudies-literature

Aberrant mesenchymal differentiation of glioma stem-like cells: implications for therapeutic targeting.

Project description:Differentiation has been proposed as a therapeutic strategy for glioblastoma (GBM) in part due to observations of stem-like cells in GBM that have been shown to undergo terminal differentiation in response to growth factor withdrawal and BMP activation. However, the effects of long term exposure to serum culture conditions on glioma sphere cultures/glioma stem-like cells (GSCs) have not been examined. Here we show that GSCs retained both neurosphere formation and tumor initiation abilities after short or long term serum exposure. Under these conditions, GSCs expressed both neural lineage and stem cell markers, highlighting the aberrant pseudo-differentiation state. GSCs maintained under adherent serum cultured conditions continued to proliferate and initiate tumor formation with efficiencies similar to GSCs maintained under proliferating (neurosphere) conditions. Proneural (PN) GSCs under serum exposure showed an induction of mesenchymal (MES) gene expression signatures. Our data indicate that exposure to serum containing media result in aberrant differentiation (e.g. toward MES lineage) and activation of alternative oncogenic pathways in GSCs.

| S-EPMC4741584 | biostudies-literature