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Tumor Dormancy and Slow-Cycling Cancer Cells

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Human Cell Transformation

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 1164))

Abstract

Cancer cell heterogeneity is a universal feature of human tumors and represents a significant barrier to the efficacy and duration of anticancer therapies, especially targeted therapeutics. Among the heterogeneous cancer cell populations is a subpopulation of relatively quiescent cancer cells, which are in the G0/G1 cell-cycle phase and refractory to anti-mitotic drugs that target proliferative cells. These slow-cycling cells (SCCs) preexist in untreated tumors and frequently become enriched in treatment-failed tumors, raising the possibility that these cells may mediate therapy resistance and tumor relapse. Here we review several general concepts on tumor cell heterogeneity, quiescence, and tumor dormancy. We discuss the potential relationship between SCCs and cancer stem cells (CSCs). We also present our current understanding of how SCCs and cancer dormancy might be regulated. Increasing knowledge of SCCs and tumor dormancy should lead to identification of novel molecular regulators and therapeutic targets of tumor relapse, residual diseases, and metastasis.

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Acknowledgments

Work in the authors’ lab was supported by grants from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) (R01CA237027 and R21CA218635), Department of Defense (W81XWH-16-1-0575), and RPCCC and NCI grant P30CA016056.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, NY, USA

    John E. Davis Jr, Jason Kirk, Yibing Ji & Dean G. Tang

Authors
  1. John E. Davis Jr
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  2. Jason Kirk
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  3. Yibing Ji
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  4. Dean G. Tang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dean G. Tang .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Johng S. Rhim

  2. Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA

    Anatoly Dritschilo

  3. Department of Medicine, McGill University Health Centre, Montréal, QC, Canada

    Richard Kremer

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Davis, J.E., Kirk, J., Ji, Y., Tang, D.G. (2019). Tumor Dormancy and Slow-Cycling Cancer Cells. In: Rhim, J., Dritschilo, A., Kremer, R. (eds) Human Cell Transformation. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 1164. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22254-3_15

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