Xianjing Chu, Wentao Tian, Jiaoyang Ning, Gang Xiao, Yunqi Zhou, Ziqi Wang, Zhuofan Zhai, Guilong Tanzhu, Jie Yang, Rongrong Zhou
{"title":"Cancer stem cells: advances in knowledge and implications for cancer therapy.","authors":"Xianjing Chu, Wentao Tian, Jiaoyang Ning, Gang Xiao, Yunqi Zhou, Ziqi Wang, Zhuofan Zhai, Guilong Tanzhu, Jie Yang, Rongrong Zhou","doi":"10.1038/s41392-024-01851-y","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Cancer stem cells (CSCs), a small subset of cells in tumors that are characterized by self-renewal and continuous proliferation, lead to tumorigenesis, metastasis, and maintain tumor heterogeneity. Cancer continues to be a significant global disease burden. In the past, surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy were the main cancer treatments. The technology of cancer treatments continues to develop and advance, and the emergence of targeted therapy, and immunotherapy provides more options for patients to a certain extent. However, the limitations of efficacy and treatment resistance are still inevitable. Our review begins with a brief introduction of the historical discoveries, original hypotheses, and pathways that regulate CSCs, such as WNT/β-Catenin, hedgehog, Notch, NF-κB, JAK/STAT, TGF-β, PI3K/AKT, PPAR pathway, and their crosstalk. We focus on the role of CSCs in various therapeutic outcomes and resistance, including how the treatments affect the content of CSCs and the alteration of related molecules, CSCs-mediated therapeutic resistance, and the clinical value of targeting CSCs in patients with refractory, progressed or advanced tumors. In summary, CSCs affect therapeutic efficacy, and the treatment method of targeting CSCs is still difficult to determine. Clarifying regulatory mechanisms and targeting biomarkers of CSCs is currently the mainstream idea.</p>","PeriodicalId":21766,"journal":{"name":"Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":40.8000,"publicationDate":"2024-07-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11224386/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41392-024-01851-y","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"BIOCHEMISTRY & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Cancer stem cells (CSCs), a small subset of cells in tumors that are characterized by self-renewal and continuous proliferation, lead to tumorigenesis, metastasis, and maintain tumor heterogeneity. Cancer continues to be a significant global disease burden. In the past, surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy were the main cancer treatments. The technology of cancer treatments continues to develop and advance, and the emergence of targeted therapy, and immunotherapy provides more options for patients to a certain extent. However, the limitations of efficacy and treatment resistance are still inevitable. Our review begins with a brief introduction of the historical discoveries, original hypotheses, and pathways that regulate CSCs, such as WNT/β-Catenin, hedgehog, Notch, NF-κB, JAK/STAT, TGF-β, PI3K/AKT, PPAR pathway, and their crosstalk. We focus on the role of CSCs in various therapeutic outcomes and resistance, including how the treatments affect the content of CSCs and the alteration of related molecules, CSCs-mediated therapeutic resistance, and the clinical value of targeting CSCs in patients with refractory, progressed or advanced tumors. In summary, CSCs affect therapeutic efficacy, and the treatment method of targeting CSCs is still difficult to determine. Clarifying regulatory mechanisms and targeting biomarkers of CSCs is currently the mainstream idea.
期刊介绍:
Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy is an open access journal that focuses on timely publication of cutting-edge discoveries and advancements in basic science and clinical research related to signal transduction and targeted therapy.
Scope: The journal covers research on major human diseases, including, but not limited to:
Cancer,Cardiovascular diseases,Autoimmune diseases,Nervous system diseases.