title: Cancer stem cells: a challenging paradigm for designing targeted drug therapies.
abstract: Despite earlier controversies about their role and existence within tumors, cancer stem cells (CSCs) are now emerging as a plausible target for new drug discovery. Research and development (R&D) efforts are being directed against key gene(s) driving initiation, growth, and metastatic pathways in CSCs and the tumor microenvironment (TME). However, the niche signals that enable these pluripotent CSCs to evade radio- and chemotherapy, and to travel to secondary tissues remain enigmatic. Small-molecule drugs, biologics, miRNA, RNA interference (RNAi), and vaccines, among others, are under active investigation. Here, we examine the feasibility of leveraging current knowhow of the molecular biology of CSCs and their cellular milieu to design futuristic, targeted drugs with potentially lower toxicity that can override the multiple drug-resistance issues currently observed with existing therapeutics.
authors.affiliation: Embryonic & Cancer Stem Cell Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia; Center of Excellence in Genomic Medicine Research, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia; Centre of Innovation for Personalized Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Ishaq N
authors.initials: IN
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.affiliation: Embryonic & Cancer Stem Cell Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia; Embryonic Stem Cell Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Centre, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Saleh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Al-Karim
authors.affiliation: Embryonic & Cancer Stem Cell Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia; Biotechnology Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia; School of Biotechnology, Eternal University, Baru Sahib 173 101, Himachal Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Roop S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Bora
authors.affiliation: Center of Excellence in Genomic Medicine Research, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia; Centre of Innovation for Personalized Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Adeel G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Chaudhary
authors.affiliation: Embryonic & Cancer Stem Cell Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia; Biotechnology Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia; School of Biotechnology, Eternal University, Baru Sahib 173 101, Himachal Pradesh, India. Electronic address: kulvin.singh@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Kulvinder S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Saini
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015195:Drug Design; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm; D006801:Humans; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D059016:Tumor Microenvironment
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents