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
Comment
. 2020 Aug 6;27(2):187-189.
doi: 10.1016/j.stem.2020.07.017.

Unleashing Immunotherapy by Targeting Cancer Stem Cells

Affiliations
Comment

Unleashing Immunotherapy by Targeting Cancer Stem Cells

Ramiro Iglesias-Bartolome et al. Cell Stem Cell. .

Abstract

In this issue of Cell Stem Cell, Jia et al. (2020) identify residual cancer stem cells (CSCs) as a mechanism of immunotherapy resistance in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Remarkably, targeting this population of CSCs can be exploited to potentiate immunotherapy and reduce tumor recurrence and metastasis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Interests J.S.G. is a Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of Oncoceutics, Vividion Therapeutics, and Domain Therapeutics.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Multimodal Precision Immunotherapy for HNSCC
Jia and coworkers describe that BMI1+ CSCs in HNSCC contribute to immune evasion and tumor relapse and metastasis. Combining cisplatin and immunotherapy with concomitant inhibition of CSC self-renewal triggers an increased recruitment of intratumoral immune cells, enhancing ICB. BMI1 targeting can also lead to the activation of senescent pathways in CSCs that contribute to stem cell depletion (the DDS response). See text for more details. Figure created with BioRender.com.

Comment on

References

    1. Chen D, Wu M, Li Y, Chang I, Yuan Q, Ekimyan-Salvo M, Deng P, Yu B, Yu Y, Dong J, et al. (2017). Targeting BMI1(+) Cancer Stem Cells Overcomes Chemoresistance and Inhibits Metastases in Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Cell Stem Cell 20, 621–634 e626. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Heffner M, and Fearon DT (2007). Loss of T cell receptor-induced Bmi-1 in the KLRG1(+) senescent CD8(+) T lymphocyte. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 104, 13414–13419. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Iglesias-Bartolome R, and Gutkind JS (2011). Signaling circuitries controlling stem cell fate: to be or not to be. Curr. Opin. Cell Biol. 23, 716–723. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Jacobs JJ, Kieboom K, Marino S, DePinho RA, and van Lohuizen M (1999). The oncogene and Polycomb-group gene bmi-1 regulates cell proliferation and senescence through the ink4a locus. Nature 397, 164–168. - PubMed
    1. Ji AL, Rubin AJ, Thrane K, Jiang S, Reynolds DL, Meyers RM, Guo MG, George BM, Mollbrink A, Bergenstråhle J, et al. (2020). Multimodal Analysis of Composition and Spatial Architecture in Human Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Cell, in press. Published online June 23, 2020. 10.1016/j.cell.2020.05.039. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Substances