Cancer Stem Cells

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) share traits with healthy stem or precursor cells, which include having the capacity to self-renew and differentiate into several lineages, which promote the growth and heterogeneity of tumors. CSCs are frequently identified and enriched using cell surface markers such as CD44, CD24, and CD133. Since CSCs are extremely resistant, traditional cancer therapies are only able to attack the majority of the tumor, which increases the risk of tumor relapse and metastasis. Several pluripotent transcription factors, including OCT4, KLF4, Nanog, and Sox2, influence the biological processes of cancer stem cells. A number of extracellular and intracellular signaling pathways, including vascular niches, hypoxia, cancer-associated fibroblasts, cancer-associated mesenchymal stem cells, extracellular matrix, and exosomes, have been demonstrated to play critical roles in controlling the proliferation of CSCs. Intracellular signaling includes Wnt, nuclear factor-B, Notch, interleukin 8, Hedgehog, JAK-STAT. The major determinants and processes that control the formation of CSCs are presented in this chapter along with a possible targeted treatment for CSCs. The chapter also summarizes the characteristics and detection of CSCs.