title: Induced cancer stem cells generated by radiochemotherapy and their therapeutic implications.
abstract: Local and distant recurrence of malignant tumors following radio- and/or chemotherapy correlates with poor prognosis of patients. Among the reasons for cancer recurrence, preexisting cancer stem cells (CSCs) are considered the most likely cause due to their properties of self-renewal, pluripotency, plasticity and tumorigenicity. It has been demonstrated that preexisting cancer stem cells derive from normal stem cells and differentiated somatic cells that undergo transformation and dedifferentiation respectively under certain conditions. However, recent studies have revealed that cancer stem cells can also be induced from non-stem cancer cells by radiochemotherapy, constituting the subpopulation of induced cancer stem cells (iCSCs). These findings suggest that radiochemotherapy has the side effect of directly transforming non-stem cancer cells into induced cancer stem cells, possibly contributing to tumor recurrence and metastasis. Therefore, drugs targeting cancer stem cells or preventing dedifferentiation of non-stem cancer cells can be combined with radiochemotherapy to improve its antitumor efficacy. The current review is to investigate the mechanisms by which induced cancer stem cells are generated by radiochemotherapy and hence provide new strategies for cancer treatment.
authors.affiliation: Medical English Department, College of Basic Medicine, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China.|Cancer Institute of PLA, Xinqiao Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Xiewan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Medical English Department, College of Basic Medicine, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Rongxia
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.affiliation: Cancer Institute of PLA, Xinqiao Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Dezhi
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Cancer Institute of PLA, Xinqiao Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Jianguo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000528:radiation effects; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000528:radiation effects; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D059248:Chemoradiotherapy / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells
keywords: dedifferentiation; induced cancer stem cells; plasticity; reprogramming; therapeutic resistance