title: Cancer Stem Cells in Squamous Cell Carcinoma.
abstract: Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are found in many cancer types, including squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). CSCs initiate cancer formation and are linked to metastasis and resistance to therapies. Studies have revealed that several distinct CSC populations coexist in SCC and that tumor initiation and metastatic potential of these populations can be uncoupled. Therefore, it is critical to understand CSC biology to develop novel CSC-targeted therapies for patients with SCC with poor prognoses. This review compares the properties of CSCs in SCC with normal stem cells in the skin, summarizes current advances and characteristics of CSCs, and considers the challenges for CSC-targeted treatment of SCC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Colorado Denver, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, USA; Department of Dermatology, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.
authors.forename: Zhe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Jian
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Colorado Denver, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, USA.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Strait
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology, University of Colorado Denver, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, USA.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jimeno
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Colorado Denver, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, USA. Electronic address: xj.wang@ucdenver.edu.
authors.forename: Xiao-Jing
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000473:pathology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells / Q000473:pathology*; D012016:Reference Values; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy