ContentslistsavailableatScienceDirectSeminarsinCancerBiologyjournalhomepage:www.elsevier.com/locate/semcancerTargetingcancerstemcellsandtheirniche:perspectivesforfuturetherapeutictargetsandstrategiesYueZhaoa,b,⁎,1,QiongzhuDongc,1,JiahuiLia,KailiZhangc,JieQina,JiangangZhaoa,d,QiyeSuna,ZhefangWanga,ThomasWartmannb,KarlWalterJauchd,PeterJ.Nelsone,LunXiuQinc,ChristianeBrunsa,⁎aGeneral,VisceralandCancerSurgery,UniversityHospitalofCologne,Cologne,GermanybDepartmentofSurgery,Otto-von-GuerickeUniversity,Magdeburg,GermanycDepartmentofGeneralSurgery,HuashanHospital&CancerMetastasisInstitute&InstitutesofBiomedicalSciences,FudanUniversity,Shanghai,ChinadDepartmentofGeneral,VisceralundVascularSurgery,Ludwig-Maximilian-University(LMU),Munich,GermanyeMedizinischeKlinikundPoliklinikIV,Ludwig-Maximilian-University(LMU),Munich,GermanyARTICLEINFOKeywords:CancerstemcellsMicroenvironmentMetastasisStemcellnicheTherapyresistanceABSTRACTAsmallsubpopulationofcellswithinthebulkoftumorssharefeatureswithsomaticstemcells,inthat,theyarecapableofself-renewal,theydifferentiate,andarehighlyresistanttoconventionaltherapy.Thesecellshavebeenreferredtoascancerstemcells(CSCs).Recentreportssupportthecentralimportanceofacancerstemcell-likenichethatappearstohelpfosterthegenerationandmaintenanceofCSCs.Inresponsetosignalsprovidedbythismicroenvironment,CSCsexpressthetumorigeniccharacteristicsthatcandrivetumormetastasisbytheinductionofepithelial-mesenchymal-transition(EMT)thatinturnfostersthemigrationandrecolonizationofthecellsassecondarytumorswithinmetastaticniches.Wesummarizehererecentadvancesincancerstemcellresearchincludingthecharacterizationoftheirgeneticandepigeneticfeatures,metabolicspecialities,andcrosstalkwithaging-associatedprocesses.PotentialstrategiesfortargetingCSCs,andtheirniche,byregulatingCSCsplasticity,ortherapeuticsensitivityisdiscussed.Finally,itishopedthatnewstrategiesandrelatedtherapeuticapproachesasoutlinedheremayhelppreventtheformationofthemetastaticniche,aswellascountertumorprogres...
