Department of Neurological Surgery, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, 303 East Superior Street, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA.
Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA.
Stem Cell Rev Rep. 2022 Jan;18(1):228-240. doi: 10.1007/s12015-021-10195-x. Epub 2021 Jul 9.
Tumor invasion and metastasis remain the leading causes of mortality for patients with cancer despite current treatment strategies. In some cancer types, recurrence is considered inevitable due to the lack of effective anti-metastatic therapies. Recent studies across many cancer types demonstrate a close relationship between cancer-initiating cells (CICs) and metastasis, as well as general cancer progression. First, this review describes CICs' contribution to cancer progression. Then we discuss our recent understanding of mechanisms through which CICs promote tumor invasion and metastasis by examining the role of CICs in each stage. Finally, we examine the current understanding of CICs' contribution to therapeutic resistance and recent developments in CIC-targeting drugs. We believe this understanding is key to advancing anti-CIC clinical therapeutics.
尽管目前有治疗策略，肿瘤侵袭和转移仍然是癌症患者死亡的主要原因。在某些癌症类型中，由于缺乏有效的抗转移治疗，复发被认为是不可避免的。最近在许多癌症类型中的研究表明，癌症起始细胞（CICs）与转移以及一般癌症进展之间存在密切关系。首先，本综述描述了 CICs 对癌症进展的贡献。然后，我们通过研究 CICs 在每个阶段的作用，讨论了我们对 CICs 促进肿瘤侵袭和转移机制的最新理解。最后，我们研究了目前对 CICs 对治疗耐药性的贡献的理解以及针对 CIC 的药物的最新进展。我们相信，这种理解是推进抗 CIC 临床治疗的关键。
