Stem Cells in Oncology: Emerging Targets for Therapy
A special issue of Pharmaceuticals (ISSN 1424-8247). This special issue belongs to the section "Biopharmaceuticals".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2025 | Viewed by 90
Special Issue Editors
Interests: leukemia stem cells; acute myeloid leukemia; chronic myeloid leukemia
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Cancer treatment is a challenging task; thus, current therapeutics must be improved in order to achieve better outcomes. Understanding tumorigenesis would aid in the development of drugs for cancer treatment; however, the resistance developed by cancer cells after cancer therapies must be overcome. A distinguishing characteristic of cancer stem cells (CSCs) is that they cause relapse in solid as well as liquid tumors after remission, and recent studies have shown that CSCs can develop resistance against the cancer immunotherapy. CSCs are generally present in all types of tumors and divide and give rise to the other CSCs and tumor cells, which are less proliferative, less metastatic, and more differentiated. CSCs exhibit a remarkable capacity to initiate, propagate and spread malignant disease, also showing enhanced therapy resistance and being associated with disease relapse. Understanding the mechanisms implicated in the formation, self-renewal, quiescence, and adaptability of CSCs would enable the development of a multidirectional strategy for targeting and eradicating cancer stem cells. Cancer cells are heterogeneous due to genetic and epigenetic changes, and exhibit diverse patterns of gene expression and behavior. The specific molecules present on the surface of CSCs are known as biomarkers, and they distinguish CSCs from cancer cells. Intrinsic stem cell signals (Notch, Hedgehog, Wnt) interact with oncogenic signals (NF-Kβ, JAK-STAT, TGF/SMAD, PI3K/AKT/mTOR) to enhance the survival and self-renewal of CSCs. CSCs interact with tumor microenvironments in a reciprocal manner, thus playing a significant role in the development of cancer. The bidirectional communication provided by complex signaling facilitates immune evasion, metabolic adaptability, quiescence, and resistance of CSCs to cancer treatments. The unique characteristics of CSCs make them vulnerable to targeted therapy, but the biological function of most cancer cell biomarkers is not understood. These biomarkers aid in the prognosis and diagnosis of cancer, and can be employed as a useful target in immunotherapy in order to eliminate cancer. Targeting intrinsic cellular signaling pathways and metabolism is the key to eliminating CSCs. A comprehensive understanding of the interaction between the tumor microenvironment and CSCs would enable CSCs to be targeted, inhibiting stemness and quiescence, overcoming treatment resistance, and increasing immune sensitivity. Ongoing preclinical and clinical investigations have shown that targeting CSCs in conjugation with chemotherapy and immunological treatments improves sensitivity and provides a positive outcome. Eradicating CSCs requires acceptable and unique targets to be found via multidirectional means.
Dr. Ling Li
Dr. Umesh P Yadav
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- cancer stem cells (CSCs)
- tumor microenvironment (TME)
- targeted therapy
- treatment resistance
- biomarkers
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