Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2020 Jan-Dec:19:1533033819892261.
doi: 10.1177/1533033819892261.

Targeting Colorectal Cancer Stem Cells as an Effective Treatment for Colorectal Cancer

Yu-Shui Ma  1   2 , Wen Li  1 , Yu Liu  2 , Yi Shi  2 , Qin-Lu Lin  1 , Da Fu  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Targeting Colorectal Cancer Stem Cells as an Effective Treatment for Colorectal Cancer

Yu-Shui Ma et al. Technol Cancer Res Treat. 2020 Jan-Dec.

Abstract

As one of the common cancers that threaten human life, the recurrence and metastasis of colorectal cancer seriously affect the prognosis of patients. Although new drugs and comprehensive treatments have been adopted, the current treatment effect on this tumor, especially in advanced colorectal cancer, is still not satisfactory. More and more evidence shows that tumors are likely to be a stem cell disease. In recent years, the rise of cancer stem cell theory has provided a new way for cancer treatment. Studies have found that a small number of special cells in colorectal cancer tissues that induce tumorigenesis, proliferation, and promote tumor migration and metastasis, namely, colorectal cancer stem cells. Colorectal cancer stem cells are defined with a group of cell-surface markers, such as CD44, CD133, CD24, epithelial cell adhesion factor molecule, LGR5, and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase. They are highly tumorigenic, aggressive, and chemoresistant and thus are critical in the metastasis and recurrence of colorectal cancer. Therefore, targeting colorectal cancer stem cells may become an important research direction for the future cure of colorectal cancer.

Keywords: CCSCs; CRC; CSC; drug resistance; targeted therapy.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

References

    1. Laissue P. The forkhead-box family of transcription factors: key molecular players in colorectal cancer pathogenesis. Mol Cancer. 2019;18(1):5. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cristóbal I, Sanz-Alvarez M, Torrejón B, et al. Potential therapeutic impact of miR-145 deregulation in colorectal cancer. Mol Ther. 2018;26(6):1399–1400. - PMC - PubMed
    1. O’Leary MP, Warner SG, Kim SI, et al. A novel oncolytic chimeric orthopoxvirus encoding luciferase enables real-time view of colorectal cancer cell infection. Mol Ther Oncolytics. 2018;9:13–21. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Zhu Y, Wang C, Becker SA, et al. miR-145 antagonizes SNAI1-mediated stemness and radiation resistance in colorectal cancer. Mol Ther. 2018;26(3):744–754. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ibarrola-Villava M, Cervantes A, Bardelli A. Preclinical models for precision oncology. Biochim Biophys Acta Rev Cancer. 2018;1870(2):239–246. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms