Potential for therapeutic targeting of tumor stem cells.
Recent developments in isolation and characterization of tumor stem cells (TSCs) have opened new possibilities for developing TSC-targeted therapies. Extensive efforts have been made to ascertain markers of TSCs, including cell surface, enzymatic, gene expression profile, and functional markers. These markers and the technologies used to identify and isolate TSCs are discussed in this review. TSC characteristics, such as quiescence, multidrug resistance, enhanced DNA repair ability, and anti-apoptotic mechanisms, and various features of the in vivo niche, which may make them resistant to conventional therapy, are also discussed here. The increasing understanding of aberrantly expressed molecules and signaling pathways in TSCs may provide the foundation for design of therapeutic strategies for TSC ablation.
Screening Technologies Branch, Developmental Therapeutics Program, Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, Maryland, USA.
Vaibhav
V
Saini
Robert H
RH
Shoemaker
D000444:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase / Q000032:analysis; D000818:Animals; D002469:Cell Separation; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects*
D000444:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase