Cancer Stem Cells (CSCs) are a subset of cancer cells with self-renewal,
differentiation and tumor-initiating properties. They are considered as the
leading cause of tumor initiation, promotion, and relapse in most types ofcancers.
 |
Nanomedicine
|
The first experimental evidence for CSCs was given by Bonnet and Dick in
1997. They found that single CD34+CD38– Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) cell was
able to initiate AML in NOD-SCID mice. Furthermore, this small subset
population was found to be responsible for chemotherapy and radiotherapy
resistance because CSCs have enhanced DNA repair ability, enriched
anti-apoptotic proteins, improved drug efflux transporters, and are protected
in specific microenvironment or niche. Therefore, these leukemia initiating
cells (LIC) or leukemia Stem Cells (LSCs) are considered as a critical target
for leukemia therapy. Subsequently, CSCs in solid tumors have been identified
from brain, prostate, breast, colon, and pancreas cancer. Traditional cancer
treatments, such as Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy, are cytotoxic to both normal
and cancerous cells, which cause severe side effects, like bone marrow
suppression, cardiomyopathy, and neurotoxicity. Read more>>>>>>>>
No comments:
Post a Comment