Breast Cancer Stem Cells Review م.م علي جهاد حميد

Adding Date: 07/09/2019
Views: 1274
Published by: Al-Mustaqbal College Administration
Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide and the most common type of cancer in women. Metastasis, tumor recurrence and resistance to conventional therapies are the primary causes of breast cancer-related death. Over the last decade, a sub-population of cells termed breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs) was identified, functionally characterized and implicated in driving metastasis, tumor relapse, and therapy resistance.
There is increasing evidence supporting that Microenvironmental tumor conditions like hypoxia and inflammation play an important role in promoting the formation of BCSCs. Many molecular targets have been identified as potential targets for BCSCs elimination, including many which support self-renewal, the HER2 pathway, the JAK-STAT pathway and those which support the viability of BCSCs microenvironment/niche. Current research is focused on developing anticancer agents that can take advantage of these targets to eliminate BCSCs, to achieve a radical and durable cure for breast cancer. However, lingering questions remain regarding BCSCs dormancy in the face of such therapies and pathways supporting escape from dormancy, leading to disease recurrence, sometimes twenty years after the initial diagnosis and successful treatment. Validation of anti-BCSCs agents and translation to the clinic should be the focus of future research directions.