Bladder Cancer Stem-Like Cells: Their Origin and Therapeutic Perspectives

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Tomokazu Ohishi³  Fumitaka Koga²  Toshiro Migita¹ 

[1] Division of Molecular Biotherapy, Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research, 3-8-31 Ariake, Koto-ku, Tokyo 135-8550, JapanDepartment of Urology, Tokyo Metropolitan Cancer and Infectious Diseases Center, Komagome Hospital, Tokyo 113-8677, Japan;Institute of Microbial Chemistry (BIKAKEN), Numazu, 18-24 Miyamoto, Numazu-shi, Shizuoka 410-0301, Japan;

关键词: cancer stem cell;    bladder cancer;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijms17010043

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Bladder cancer (BC), the most common cancer arising from the human urinary tract, consists of two major clinicopathological phenotypes: muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) and non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). MIBC frequently metastasizes and is associated with an unfavorable prognosis. A certain proportion of patients with metastatic BC can achieve a remission with systemic chemotherapy; however, the disease relapses in most cases. Evidence suggests that MIBC comprises a small population of cancer stem cells (CSCs), which may be resistant to these treatments and may be able to form new tumors in the bladder or other organs. Therefore, the unambiguous identification of bladder CSCs and the development of targeted therapies are urgently needed. Nevertheless, it remains unclear where bladder CSCs originate and how they are generated. We review recent studies on bladder CSCs, specifically focusing on their proposed origin and the possible therapeutic options based on the CSC theory.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.