Abstract
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death worldwide, and therapy resistance is one of the most common reasons for treatment failure in CRC. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a minor subpopulation of tumor cells with the capacity of self-renewal and differentiation, which play an important role in the progression, recurrence, and therapy resistance of cancer. Recent studies have shown that CSCs induce cancer resistance to conventional treatments through a variety of mechanisms, including targeting signaling pathways, regulating level of microRNAs, DNA damage repair, maintaining low levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and maintaining a relatively quiescent state. Therefore, therapeutic strategies targeting CSCs may be able to reverse therapy resistance of CRC, but the lack of specific CSC markers also confuses this therapeutic strategy. In this chapter, we will discuss the effect of CSCs on CRC therapy resistance and its potential mechanism, the current research progress of the strategy of targeting CSCs, and their existing problems in order to provide a reference for the selection of therapeutic strategies for CRC.
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Abbreviations
- ABCG2:
-
ATP-binding cassette super-family G member 2
- ABCB5:
-
ATP-binding cassette member B5
- ABC:
-
ATP-binding cassette proteins
- AML:
-
Acute myeloid leukemia
- APC:
-
Adenomatous polyposis coli
- BCC:
-
Basal cell carcinoma
- BCL2:
-
B-cell lymphoma 2
- CRC:
-
Colorectal cancer
- CSCs:
-
Cancer stem cells
- CD133:
-
Cluster of differentiation 133
- CD44:
-
Cluster of differentiation 44
- COX-2:
-
Cyclooxygenase-2
- FOXO3a:
-
Forkhead transcription factor forkhead box O3a
- GSK3:
-
Glycogen synthase kinase 3
- 5-FU:
-
5-Fluorouracil
- IGF1-R:
-
Growth factor 1 receptor
- LGR5:
-
Leucine-rich repeat-containing G-protein-coupled receptor 5
- miRNA:
-
MicroRNAs
- MTX:
-
Methotrexate
- MMP16:
-
Matrix metalloproteinase 16
- MDR:
-
Multidrug resistance
- MRP-2:
-
MDR-associated protein 2
- ROS:
-
Reactive oxygen species
- SMO:
-
Smoothened
- SP:
-
Side population
- TDX:
-
Tomudex
- TUSC3:
-
Tumor suppressor candidate 3
- 3'UTR:
-
3' untranslated region
- YAP:
-
Yes-associated protein
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Yang, Y., Meng, WJ., Wang, ZQ. (2021). Cancer Stem Cells in Therapy Resistance of Colorectal Cancer. In: Chakraborti, S. (eds) Handbook of Oxidative Stress in Cancer: Therapeutic Aspects. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-1247-3_102-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-1247-3_102-1
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