Work

Cancer stem cells and radioresistance

Year: 2014

Type: article

Abstract: PURPOSE: Radiation therapy has made significant contributions to cancer treatment. However, despite continuous improvements, tumor recurrence and therapy resistance still occur in a high proportion of patients. One underlying reason for this radioresistance might be attributable to the presence of cancer stem cells (CSC). The purpose of this review is to discuss CSC-specific mechanisms that confer radiation resistance. CONCLUSIONS: We focus our discussions on breast cancer and glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) and conclude that both CSC-intrinsic and CSC-extrinsic factors as well as adaptive responses in CSC caused by irradiation and microenvironmental changes all make contributions to CSC-mediated radioresistance. Our discussions emphasize CSC as novel therapeutic targets in order to potentiate radiotherapy efficacy.

Source: International Journal of Radiation Biology

DOI: 10.3109/09553002.2014.892227

Authors: Kiera Rycaj, Dean G. Tang

Institutions: The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Tongji University, Shanghai East Hospital

Language: English

Topic: Cancer Cells and Metastasis

Subfield: Oncology

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: China Scholarship Council, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute