title: Prostate Cancer Stem Cells and Nanotechnology: A Focus on Wnt Signaling.
abstract: Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men worldwide. However, current treatments for prostate cancer patients in advanced stage often fail because of relapse. Prostate cancer stem cells (PCSCs) are resistant to most standard therapies, and are considered to be a major mechanism of cancer metastasis and recurrence. In this review, we summarized current understanding of PCSCs and their self-renewal signaling pathways with a specific focus on Wnt signaling. Although multiple Wnt inhibitors have been developed to target PCSCs, their application is still limited by inefficient delivery and toxicityin vivo. Recently, nanotechnology has opened a new avenue for cancer drug delivery, which significantly increases specificity and reduces toxicity. These nanotechnology-based drug delivery methods showed great potential in targeting PCSCs. Here, we summarized current advancement of nanotechnology-based therapeutic strategies for targeting PCSCs and highlighted the challenges and perspectives in designing future therapies to eliminate PCSCs.
authors.affiliation: The Third Affiliated Hospital, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen UniversityGuangzhou, China; Key Laboratory for Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering, Ministry of Education, Sun Yat-sen UniversityGuangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: The Third Affiliated Hospital, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Yongjiang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Edinburgh Cancer Research UK Centre and MRC University of Edinburgh Centre for Reproductive Health, University of Edinburgh Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: Bin-Zhi
authors.initials: BZ
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.affiliation: The Third Affiliated Hospital, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen UniversityGuangzhou, China; Key Laboratory for Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering, Ministry of Education, Sun Yat-sen UniversityGuangzhou, China; Department of Pathophysiology, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen UniversityGuangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Meng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhao
keywords: Wnt signaling; cancer therapy; nanotechnology; prostate cancer; prostate cancer stem cell