An evolving paradigm of cancer stem cell hierarchies: therapeutic implications

Over a decade of research has confirmed the critical role of cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) in tumor initiation, chemoresistance, and metastasis. Increasingly, CSC hierarchies have begun to be defined with some recurring themes. This includes evidence that these hierarchies are 'flexible,'...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Theranostics 2020-01, Vol.10 (7), p.3083-3098
Main Authors: Cole, Alexander J, Fayomi, Adetunji P, Anyaeche, Vivian I, Bai, Shoumei, Buckanovich, Ronald J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aldehyde Dehydrogenase 1 Family - antagonists & inhibitors
Animals
Antigens, CD - drug effects
Antineoplastic Agents - adverse effects
Antineoplastic Agents - pharmacology
Antineoplastic Agents - therapeutic use
Biomarkers, Tumor
Brain cancer
Brain Neoplasms - pathology
Breast cancer
Breast Neoplasms - pathology
Cancer therapies
Cell Dedifferentiation
Cell Lineage
Clinical Trials as Topic
Colorectal cancer
Drug resistance
Epigenesis, Genetic
Female
Gene expression
Humans
Hypotheses
Leukemia
Metastasis
Metformin - pharmacology
Metformin - therapeutic use
Molecular Targeted Therapy
Neoplasm Proteins - antagonists & inhibitors
Neoplastic Stem Cells - classification
Neoplastic Stem Cells - cytology
Neoplastic Stem Cells - drug effects
Ovarian cancer
Ovarian Neoplasms - pathology
Review
Signal Transduction - drug effects
Stem cells
Tumor Microenvironment
Tumors
Citations: Items that cite this one
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Summary:Over a decade of research has confirmed the critical role of cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) in tumor initiation, chemoresistance, and metastasis. Increasingly, CSC hierarchies have begun to be defined with some recurring themes. This includes evidence that these hierarchies are 'flexible,' with both cell state transitions and dedifferentiation events possible. These findings pose therapeutic hurdles and opportunities. Here, we review cancer stem cell hierarchies and their interactions with the tumor microenvironment. We also discuss the current therapeutic approaches designed to target CSC hierarchies and initial clinical trial results for CSC targeting agents. While cancer stem cell targeted therapies are still in their infancy, we are beginning to see encouraging results that suggest a positive outlook for CSC-targeting approaches.
ISSN:1838-7640
1838-7640
DOI:10.7150/thno.41647