General, Visceral and Cancer Surgery, University Hospital of Cologne, Kerpener Straße 62, Cologne, Germany.
Department of Liver Surgery and Transplantation, Liver Cancer Institute, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, No. 180 Fenglin Road, Shanghai, 200032, China.
Stem Cell Res Ther. 2022 Jun 3;13(1):233. doi: 10.1186/s13287-022-02904-1.
Distinct regions harboring cancer stem cells (CSCs) have been identified within the microenvironment of various tumors, and as in the case of their healthy counterparts, these anatomical regions are termed "niche." Thus far, a large volume of studies have shown that CSC niches take part in the maintenance, regulation of renewal, differentiation and plasticity of CSCs. In this review, we summarize and discuss the latest findings regarding CSC niche morphology, physical terrain, main signaling pathways and interactions within them. The cellular and molecular components of CSCs also involve genetic and epigenetic modulations that mediate and support their maintenance, ultimately leading to cancer progression. It suggests that the crosstalk between CSCs and their niche plays an important role regarding therapy resistance and recurrence. In addition, we updated diverse therapeutic strategies in different cancers in basic research and clinical trials in this review. Understanding the complex heterogeneity of CSC niches is a necessary pre-requisite for designing superior therapeutic strategies to target CSC-specific factors and/or components of the CSC niche.
在各种肿瘤的微环境中已经鉴定出了富含癌症干细胞（CSC）的不同区域，并且与它们的健康对应物一样，这些解剖区域被称为“龛位”。到目前为止，大量研究表明，CSC 龛位参与 CSC 的维持、调控更新、分化和可塑性。在这篇综述中，我们总结和讨论了关于 CSC 龛位形态、物理地形、主要信号通路以及它们之间相互作用的最新发现。CSC 的细胞和分子组成还涉及遗传和表观遗传调节，这些调节介导并支持它们的维持，最终导致癌症的进展。这表明 CSC 与其龛位之间的串扰在治疗抵抗和复发方面起着重要作用。此外，我们在这篇综述中更新了基础研究和临床试验中不同癌症的多种治疗策略。了解 CSC 龛位的复杂异质性是设计针对 CSC 特异性因素和/或 CSC 龛位成分的优越治疗策略的必要前提。
