Department of Medical Biotechnology, Fasa University of Medical Sciences, Fasa, Iran.
Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
Curr Mol Med. 2019;19(1):2-11. doi: 10.2174/1566524019666190204114721.
Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a rare population of tumor cells, which play an important role in tumor initiation, progression, and maintenance. The concept that cancer cells arise from stem cells was presented about 150 years ago. Recently, this hypothesis was renewed considering the heterogeneity of tumor cells. CSCs are resistant to chemo- and radio-therapy. Therefore, targeting CSCs could be a novel and effective strategy to struggle with tumor cells.
In this mini-review, we highlight that different immunotherapeutic approaches can be used to target cancer cells and eradicate different tumor cells. The most important targets are specific markers recognized on the CSC surface as CSC antigens such as CD44, CD133, Aldehyde Dehydrogenase (ALDH), and SOX family members. This article emphasizes recent advances in CSCs in cancer therapy.
Our results present that CSC antigens play an important role in tumor initiation, especially in the cells that are resistant to chemo- and radiotherapy agents. Therefore, they are ideal targets for cancer immunotherapy, for instance, in developing different types of cancer vaccines or antibodies against tumor cells.
The current studies related to cancer immunotherapy through targeting the CSC antigens based on their properties are briefly summarized. Altogether, CSC antigens can be efficiently targeted to treat cancer patients.
癌症干细胞（CSCs）是肿瘤细胞中的一个稀有群体，在肿瘤的起始、进展和维持中起着重要作用。大约 150 年前就提出了癌细胞起源于干细胞的概念。最近，考虑到肿瘤细胞的异质性，这一假说得到了更新。CSCs 对化疗和放疗有抵抗力。因此，针对 CSCs 可能是与肿瘤细胞作斗争的一种新的有效策略。
在这篇迷你综述中，我们强调了不同的免疫治疗方法可用于靶向癌细胞并消灭不同的肿瘤细胞。最重要的靶标是 CSC 表面上识别的特定标志物，如 CD44、CD133、醛脱氢酶（ALDH）和 SOX 家族成员等 CSC 抗原。本文强调了 CSCs 在癌症治疗中的最新进展。
我们的结果表明，CSC 抗原在肿瘤起始中起着重要作用，特别是在对化疗和放疗药物有抵抗力的细胞中。因此，它们是癌症免疫治疗的理想靶点，例如，开发针对肿瘤细胞的不同类型癌症疫苗或抗体。
简要总结了基于 CSC 抗原特性通过靶向 CSC 抗原进行癌症免疫治疗的当前研究。总之，CSC 抗原可作为治疗癌症患者的有效靶点。
