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
. 2025 Mar 19;33(4):811-819.
doi: 10.32604/or.2024.050505. eCollection 2025.

Cancer stem cell specificity as new targets in breast tumor treatment

Zhizheng Zhang  1 , Tao Li  2 , Yuan Li  3 , X I Wang  4 , Hao Liu  5 , Xinyu Shen  5 , Ann Xu  6 , Tiansong Xia  1 , B O Xu  7
Affiliations
Review

Cancer stem cell specificity as new targets in breast tumor treatment

Zhizheng Zhang et al. Oncol Res. .

Abstract

Background: Breast cancer is a prevalent malignant tumor affecting females, with treatment options including surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and endocrine therapy.

Methods: This review synthesizes existing literature on breast cancer stem cells and their applications in breast cancer treatment. PubMed, Web of Science, and other relevant databases were systematically searched using keywords such as "breast cancer stem cells," "immunotherapy," "gene therapy," and "cell therapy." Studies published in English were included, and their findings were analyzed to provide insights into the characteristics and therapeutic potential of breast cancer stem cells.

Results: Breast cancer stem cells exhibit unique properties that contribute to tumor initiation, progression, recurrence, and therapy resistance. Immunotherapy targeting breast cancer stem cells shows promise in overcoming these challenges, but issues such as lack of specificity and drug resistance need to be addressed.

Conclusions: Breast cancer stem cells represent promising targets for innovative therapeutic strategies aimed at improving treatment outcomes in breast cancer patients.

Keywords: Breast cancer; Gene; Immunotherapy; Stem cells.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest to report regarding the present study.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Mechanisms of BCSCs. Therapeutic mechanisms for targeting BCSCs (BCSCs) include immunotherapy using Anti-CD47, Anti-PD-1, and Anti-PD-L1; blocking self-renewal and proliferation by targeting HER2, CD44, Notch, and Wnt pathways; and inducing apoptosis by activating p53.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Applications of BCSCs in breast cancer treatment.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Bahrami B, Hosseini A, Talei AR, Ghaderi A, Razmkhah M. Adipose derived stem cells exert immunomodulatory effects on natural killer cells in breast cancer. Cell J. 2017;19(1):137–45; - PMC - PubMed
    1. Balic M, Rapp N, Stanzer S, Lin H, Strutz J, Szkandera J, et al. . Novel immunofluorescence protocol for multimarker assessment of putative disseminating breast cancer stem cells. Appl Immunohistochem Mol Morphol. 2011;19(1):33–40. doi:10.1097/PAI.0b013e3181ebf4e8; - DOI - PubMed
    1. Aboulkheyr ESH, Bigdeli B, Zhand S, Aref AR, Thiery JP, Warkiani ME. Mesenchymal stem cells induce PD-L1 expression through the secretion of CCL5 in breast cancer cells. J Cell Physiol. 2021;236(5):3918–28. doi:10.1002/jcp.30135; - DOI - PubMed
    1. Acuna RA, Varas-Godoy M, Herrera-Sepulveda D, Retamal MA. Connexin46 expression enhances cancer stem cell and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition characteristics of human breast cancer MCF-7 cells. Int J Mol Sci. 2021;22(22):12604. doi:10.3390/ijms222212604; - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Agur Z, Kirnasovsky OU, Vasserman G, Tencer-Hershkowicz L, Kogan Y, Harrison H, et al. . Dickkopf1 regulates fate decision and drives breast cancer stem cells to differentiation: an experimentally supported mathematical model. PLoS One. 2011;6(9):e24225. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0024225; - DOI - PMC - PubMed