Division of Radiation Oncology, Department of Radiology, Far Eastern Memorial Hospital, New Taipei City 220, Taiwan ; Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei 112, Taiwan ; Institute of Traditional Medicine, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei 112, Taiwan.
Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2013;2013:838651. doi: 10.1155/2013/838651. Epub 2013 Sep 2.
Cancer stem cells (CSCs) existing in human cancers have been demonstrated to be a major cause of cancer treatment resistance, invasion, metastasis, and relapse. Self-renewal pathways, Wnt/ β -catenin, Sonic hedgehog (Shh), and the Notch signaling pathway play critical roles in developing CSCs and lead to angiogenesis, migration, invasion, and metastasis. Multidrug resistance (MDR) is an unfavorable factor causing the failure of treatments against cancer cells. The most important and thoroughly studied mechanism involved in MDR is the active efflux of chemotherapeutic agents through membrane drug transporters. There is growing evidence that Norcantharidin (NCTD), a water-soluble synthetic small molecule derivative of naturally occurring cantharidin from the medicinal insect blister beetle (Mylabris phalerata Pallas), is capable of chemoprevention and tumor inhibition. We summarize investigations into the modulation of self-renewal pathways and MDR in CSCs by NCTD. This review may aid in further investigation of using NCTD to develop more effective strategies for cancer treatment to reduce resistance and recurrence.
人类癌症中存在的癌症干细胞（CSCs）已被证明是癌症治疗耐药性、侵袭、转移和复发的主要原因。自我更新途径、Wnt/β-catenin、Sonic hedgehog（Shh）和 Notch 信号通路在 CSCs 的发展中起着关键作用，导致血管生成、迁移、侵袭和转移。多药耐药（MDR）是导致癌细胞治疗失败的不利因素。涉及 MDR 的最重要和最彻底研究的机制是通过膜药物转运体主动排出化疗药物。越来越多的证据表明，去甲斑蝥素（NCTD）是一种水溶性合成小分子，源自药用昆虫斑蝥（Mylabris phalerata Pallas）中的天然斑蝥素，能够预防化学疗法和抑制肿瘤。我们总结了 NCTD 对 CSCs 中自我更新途径和 MDR 的调节作用。这篇综述可能有助于进一步研究使用 NCTD 开发更有效的癌症治疗策略，以降低耐药性和复发率。
