干细胞在实体肿瘤转移中的作用与地位

Cancer stem cells and their roles in solid cancer metastasis

肿瘤干细胞(cancer stem cell,CSC)被认为是治疗失败、药物耐受和转移复发的原因所在。CSC具有自我更新(self-renewal)和高侵袭潜能的特性,并最终组成肿瘤的异质性(heterogeneity)。无论是在原发瘤、循环肿瘤细胞(circulating tumor cell),还是在转移灶的形成中,CSC都发挥着重要作用,且与患者预后密切相关。因此,更好地认识CSC在转移过程中的重要作用,研发有效的靶向CSC及其微环境(microenvironment)的治疗药物,将有望使之成为抗转移的理想途径。

The failure and resistant of treatment,and metastatic recurrence of tumor are mainly due to the existing of a very small number of so-called cancer stem cells（CSCs）.This group of cells has the characteristics of self-renewal and high invasive potential and eventually formed the heterogeneity of several tumors.Whether it is in the primary tumor,circulating tumor cells,or in the formation of metastases,CSCs always play important roles,and are closely related to the patients′prognosis.Therefore,from a therapeutic standpoint,a better understanding of CSCs is helpful for developing effective therapeutic strategies targeting CSCs and their microenvironment,which could be ideal ways to combating cancer metastasis.