Journal
MOLECULAR ASPECTS OF MEDICINE
Volume 39, Issue -, Pages 61-81Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.mam.2013.07.001
Keywords
Colorectal cancer; Cancer stem cell; Tumour microenvironment; Immune system; Targeting; Individualized therapy
Funding
- [AIRC IG 12819]
- [AIRC IG 10254]
- Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro Funding Source: Custom
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Colorectal tumours are actually considered as aberrant organs, within it is possible to notice a different stage of cell growth and differentiation. Their origin is reported to arise from a subpopulation of tumour cells endowed with, just like the healthy stem cells, self-renewal and aberrant multi-lineage differentiation capacity likely to be called colorectal cancer stem cells (CCSCs). Cancer stem cells (CSCs) fate, since their origin, reflects the influences from their microenvironment (or niche) both in the maintenance of sternness, in promoting their differentiation, and in inducing epithelial-mesenchymal transition, responsible of CSCs dissemination and subsequent formation of metastatic lesions. The tumour cells heterogeneity and their immuno-response resistance nowadays probably responsible of the failure of the conventional therapies, make this research field an open issue. Even more importantly, our increasing understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms that regulate CSC quiescence and cell cycle regulation, self-renewal, chemotaxis and resistance to cytotoxic agents, is expected to eventually result in tailor-made therapies with a significant impact on the morbidity and overall survival of colorectal cancer patients. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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