Intrinsic and Extrinsic Factors Impacting Cancer Stemness and Tumor Progression

Cancers

Zarema Gilazieva¹  Albert Rizvanov¹  Alexey Ponomarev¹  Valeriya Solovyeva¹  Cinzia Allegrucci² 

[1] Institute of Fundamental Medicine and Biology, Kazan Federal University, 420008 Kazan, Russia;School of Veterinary Medicine and Science (SVMS) and Biodiscovery Institute, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK;

关键词: oncological diseases;    cancer stem cells;    stemness;    spheroids;    drug screening;    tumor microenvironment;   

DOI  :  10.3390/cancers14040970

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Tumor heterogeneity represents an important limitation to the development of effective cancer therapies. The presence of cancer stem cells (CSCs) and their differentiation hierarchies contribute to cancer complexity and confer tumors the ability to grow, resist treatment, survive unfavorable conditions, and invade neighboring and distant tissues. A large body of research is currently focusing on understanding the properties of CSCs, including their cellular and molecular origin, as well as their biological behavior in different tumor types. In turn, this knowledge informs strategies for targeting these tumor initiating cells and related cancer stemness. Cancer stemness is modulated by the tumor microenvironment, which influences CSC function and survival. Several advanced in vitro models are currently being developed to study cancer stemness in order to advance new knowledge of the key molecular pathways involved in CSC self-renewal and dormancy, as well as to mimic the complexity of patients’ tumors in pre-clinical drug testing. In this review, we discuss CSCs and the modulation of cancer stemness by the tumor microenvironment, stemness factors and signaling pathways. In addition, we introduce current models that allow the study of CSCs for the development of new targeted therapies.

【 授权许可】

Unknown