Herreros-Pomares Alejandro
Fundación de Investigación Hospital General Universitario de Valencia, 46014 Valencia, Spain.
Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Cáncer, CIBERONC, 28029 Madrid, Spain.
Life (Basel). 2022 Jan 27;12(2):184. doi: 10.3390/life12020184.
Chemoresistance, tumor progression, and metastasis are features that are frequently seen in cancer that have been associated with cancer stem cells (CSCs). These cells are a promising target in the future of cancer therapy but remain largely unknown. Deregulation of pathways that govern stemness in non-tumorigenic stem cells (SCs), such as Notch, Wnt, and Hedgehog pathways, has been described in CSC pathogenesis, but it is necessary to conduct further studies to discover potential new therapeutic targets. In addition, some markers for the identification and characterization of CSCs have been suggested, but the search for specific CSC markers in many cancer types is still under development. In addition, methods for CSC cultivation are also under development, with great heterogeneity existing in the protocols used. This review focuses on the most recent aspects of the identification, characterization, cultivation, and targeting of human CSCs, highlighting the advances achieved in the clinical implementation of therapies targeting CSCs and remarking those potential areas where more research is still required.
化疗耐药、肿瘤进展和转移是癌症中常见的特征，这些特征与癌症干细胞（CSCs）有关。这些细胞是未来癌症治疗中一个很有前景的靶点，但在很大程度上仍不为人所知。在癌症干细胞发病机制中，已描述了非致瘤性干细胞（SCs）中调控干性的信号通路失调，如Notch、Wnt和Hedgehog信号通路，但有必要进一步开展研究以发现潜在的新治疗靶点。此外，已提出了一些用于鉴定和表征癌症干细胞的标志物，但在许多癌症类型中寻找特异性癌症干细胞标志物仍在进行中。此外，癌症干细胞的培养方法也在开发中，所使用的方案存在很大的异质性。本综述重点关注人类癌症干细胞鉴定、表征、培养和靶向的最新进展，突出了针对癌症干细胞治疗在临床应用中取得的进展，并指出仍需要更多研究的潜在领域。
