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Review
. 2018 Mar;153(3):304-314.
doi: 10.1111/imm.12866. Epub 2017 Dec 18.

Cancer stem cells as targets for immunotherapy

Amy S Codd  1 , Takayuki Kanaseki  2 , Toshihiko Torigo  2 , Zsuzsanna Tabi  1
Affiliations
Review

Cancer stem cells as targets for immunotherapy

Amy S Codd et al. Immunology. 2018 Mar.

Abstract

Current cancer therapies target the bulk of the tumour, while a population of highly resistant tumour cells may be able to repopulate the tumour and metastasize to new sites. Cancer cells with such stem cell-like characteristics can be identified based on their phenotypical and/or functional features which may open up ways for their targeted elimination. In this review we discuss potential off-target effects of inhibiting cancer stem-cell self-renewal pathways on immune cells, and summarize some recent immunological studies specifically targeting cancer stem cells based on their unique antigen expression.

Keywords: T-cell; antigens/peptides/epitopes; immunotherapy; stem cell; tumour immunology.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Targeting stem cell pathways, functions or markers may have off‐target effects on immune cells. The red blocking symbols on the right represent negative effects by inhibiting immune responses, while the green symbols indicate positive effects by blocking immunosuppressive cells.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Simultaneous targeting of shared and cancer stem cell/tumour‐initiating cell (CSC/TIC)‐specific antigens by antigen‐specific T‐cells can eliminate CSC/TIC‐like cells and differentiated tumour cells alike.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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