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Cancer Stem Cell: From Conjecture to Reality

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Cancer Genetics and Psychotherapy

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Abstract

This chapter compiles various approaches of the currently advocated theory in development of most cancers through activation of the small sub-population of malignant cells with stemness characteristics, termed as cancer stem cells (CSCs). It briefly deliberates for some fundamental molecular mechanisms involved in tumorigenesis, and the potential impact of intrinsic or extrinsic factors on inducing epigenetic and/or genetic changes to improve the capacity of CSC development. Capability of CSCs to proliferate, invade, migrate, relapse and resist to several therapies has confronted cancer treatment with several obstacles. Proliferative feature of this cell type could symmetrically lead to self-renewal. Asymmetric proliferation of CSCs contributes hierarchically to not only self-renewal, but also the other types of cell, including malignant progenitor or mature cells; the procedure culminating potentially to heterogeneity of tumor bulk. In this chapter, some direct/indirect effects of microenvironmental factors and metabolism on preservation of CSC fate, invasion or even metastasis of these cells are demonstrated. Considering the molecular mechanisms promoting CSCs development, some potential therapeutic approaches are herein reviewed. Ultimately, current challenges on determination and treatment of CSCs are discussed.

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Abbreviations

AML:

Acute myeloid leukemia

BCSC:

Breast cancer stem cell

BLBC:

Basal-like breast cancer

CIC:

Cancer initiating cell

CML:

Chronic myeloid leukemia

CSC:

Cancer stem cell

CTC:

Circulating tumor cell

CXCR4:

Chemokine C-X-C motif receptor-4

DLL4:

Delta-like ligand 4

DNMT:

DNA methyltransferase

EMT:

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition

EpCAM:

Epithelial cell adhesion molecule

FAK:

Focal adhesion kinase

FPB1:

Fructose-1,6-biphosphatase

GM-CSF:

Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor

GSI:

Y-secretase inhibitor

GSK-3β:

Glycogen kinase-3 beta

HDAC:

Histone deacetylase

HGF:

Hepatocyte growth factor

HGSOC:

High-grade serous ovarian cancer

HIF:

Hypoxia inducible factor

HSC:

Hematopoietic stem cell

IGF-1:

Insulin-like growth factor-1

LCSC:

Liver cancer stem cell

lnc-RNA:

Long-noncoding RNA

LSC:

Leukemic stem cell

MET:

Mesenchymal-epithelial transition

MMP-7:

Matrix metalloproteinase-7

mTOR:

Mammalian target of rapamycin

NF-κB:

Nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells

NK:

Natural killer

nSC:

Normal stem cell

NSCLC:

Non-small cell lung cancer

OPN:

Osteopontin

PGC1α:

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma co-activator 1

PPARα:

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha

PRC2:

Polycomb-recessive complex 2

PTEN:

Phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome 10

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species

SDF1:

Stromal cell-derived factor-1α

Shh:

Sonic hedgehog

Snail-1:

Snail homologue 1

TCF:

T-cell factor

TFA:

Thomsen-Friedenreich antigen

VEGF:

Vascular endothelial growth factor

ZEB-1:

Zinc-finger E box-binding homeobox 1

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  1. Department of Stem Cell and Developmental Biology, Cell Science Research Center, Royan Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Technology, ACECR, 16635-148, Tehran, Iran

    Vahid Ezzatizadeh

  2. Medical Genetics Department, Royesh Medical Laboratory Centre, 1546816-311, Tehran, Iran

    Vahid Ezzatizadeh

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  1. Department of Medical Genetics, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Parvin Mehdipour

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Ezzatizadeh, V. (2017). Cancer Stem Cell: From Conjecture to Reality. In: Mehdipour, P. (eds) Cancer Genetics and Psychotherapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64550-6_15

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