Properties and feasibility of using cancer stem cells in clinical cancer treatment.
Cancer treatment failure, drug resistance, or metastatic recurrence are thought to be caused mainly by the existence of a very small number of cancer stem cells (CSCs). The characteristics of this subgroup of cells include self-renewal, tumorigenesis, multiple differentiation and high invasiveness, metastasis, and drug resistance potential. Many studies have demonstrated that CSCs play important roles in tumor growth, spread and metastatic relapse after treatment, and are closely related to the prognosis of patients. From a therapeutic viewpoint, deep insights into the CSCs biology, development of specific therapeutic strategies for targeting CSCs, and characterization of their microenvironment could be an ideal way to combat cancer.
Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.
Xiao-Mei
XM
Gao
Department of General Surgery, Huashan Hospital and Cancer Metastasis Institute, Fudan University, Shanghai 200040, China.
Rui
R
Zhang
Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China; Department of General Surgery, Huashan Hospital and Cancer Metastasis Institute, Fudan University, Shanghai 200040, China.
Qiong-Zhu
QZ
Dong
Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China; Department of General Surgery, Huashan Hospital and Cancer Metastasis Institute, Fudan University, Shanghai 200040, China.
Lun-Xiu
LX
Qin
Cancer stem cells; cancer therapy; cancers; metastasis; treatment failure