Research Alert
Abstract
Cancer Stem Cells (CSCs) are a notoriously quiescent subpopulation of cells within heterogeneous tumors exhibiting self-renewal, differentiation and drug-resistant capabilities leading to tumour relapse. Heterogeneous cell populations in tumour microenvironment develop an elaborate network of signalling and factors supporting the CSC population within a niche. Identification of specific biomarkers for CSCs facilitates their isolation. CSCs demonstrate abilities that bypass immune surveillance, exhibit resistance to therapy, and induce cancer recurrence while promoting altered metabolism of the bulk tumour, thereby encouraging metastasis. The fight against cancer is prone to relapse without discussing the issue of CSCs, making it imperative for encapsulation of current studies. In this review, we provide extensive knowledge of recent therapeutics developed that target CSCs via multiple signalling cascades, altered metabolism and the tumour microenvironment. Thorough understanding of the functioning of CSCs, their interaction with different cells in the tumour microenvironment as well as current gaps in knowledge are addressed. We present possible strategies to disrupt the cellular and molecular interplay within the tumour microenvironment and make it less conducive for CSCs, which may aid in their eradication with subsequently better treatment outcomes. In conclusion, we discuss a brief yet functional idea of emerging concepts in CSC biology to develop efficient therapeutics acting on cancer recurrence and metastasis.
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