title: Liver cancer stem cell markers: Progression and therapeutic implications.
abstract: Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a small subpopulation in cancer, have been proposed to be cancer-initiating cells, and have been shown to be responsible for chemotherapy resistance and cancer recurrence. The identification of CSC subpopulations inside a tumor presents a new understanding of cancer development because it implies that tumors can only be eradicated by targeting CSCs. Although advances in liver cancer detection and treatment have increased the possibility of curing the disease at early stages, unfortunately, most patients will relapse and succumb to their disease. Strategies aimed at efficiently targeting liver CSCs are becoming important for monitoring the progress of liver cancer therapy and for evaluating new therapeutic approaches. Herein, we provide a critical discussion of biological markers described in the literature regarding liver cancer stem cells and the potential of these markers to serve as therapeutic targets.
authors.affiliation: Jing-Hui Sun, Qing Luo, Ling-Ling Liu, Guan-Bin Song, Key Laboratory of Biorheological Science and Technology, Ministry of Education, College of Bioengineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China.
authors.forename: Jing-Hui
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Jing-Hui Sun, Qing Luo, Ling-Ling Liu, Guan-Bin Song, Key Laboratory of Biorheological Science and Technology, Ministry of Education, College of Bioengineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China.
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Jing-Hui Sun, Qing Luo, Ling-Ling Liu, Guan-Bin Song, Key Laboratory of Biorheological Science and Technology, Ministry of Education, College of Bioengineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China.
authors.forename: Ling-Ling
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Jing-Hui Sun, Qing Luo, Ling-Ling Liu, Guan-Bin Song, Key Laboratory of Biorheological Science and Technology, Ministry of Education, College of Bioengineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China.
authors.forename: Guan-Bin
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Song
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D010641:Phenotype
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor
keywords: Cancer recurrence; Cancer stem cell markers; Liver cancer; Liver cancer stem cells; Targeted therapy