Cancer stem cells (CSCs) in cancer progression and therapy

Most of the tumors are occupied with a number of self ‐renewing cells called cancer stem cells (CSCs) that are contributed to the initiation, maintenance, and thriving cancer. The cells have rather similar characteristics to other stem cells located in the niche of body organs, but they have not essentially the same responses to the diverse stimuli. There is evidence for repopulation of CSCs after treatment with chemo/radiotherapy, which is possibly because of their highly plastic feature. Normal stem cells have the proclivity to transform into CSCs when they undergo continuous mutagenesis or receive tumorigenic signals of the tumor microenviro nment (TME). Upon this transition, CSCs receive markers from their progeny. The rate of expression of these markers in CSCs is dependent on the type of tumor. CSCs can differentiate into cancer cells. In turn, cancer cells can dedifferentiate toward attaining a CSC‐like phenotype. Cancer‐associa ted fibroblasts provide a supportive niche for CSCs and release external cues for regulating cancer cell stemness. An effective therapeutic strategy is to target both CSCs and non‐CSCs to preclude a possible chance of tumor recurrence. Making a control over tumorigenic clues from TME or controllin g intrinsic CSC signaling are optimistic approaches to break down CSC‐related tumorigenesis. Shifting CSCs from self‐renewal to differentiation can also be therapeutic through limiting their proliferative capacity, tumor recurrence, metast...
Source: Journal of Cellular Physiology - Category: Cytology Authors: Tags: REVIEW ARTICLE Source Type: research