食管鳞癌肿瘤干细胞与HIPPO/YAP信号通路的研究进展

Research progress of cancer stem cells and HIPPO/YAP signaling pathway in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

肿瘤干细胞理论提出了一种对于肿瘤的新认识,该理论认为肿瘤组织存在极少量的肿瘤干细胞,具备自我更新及无限增殖能力,在启动肿瘤的发生和维持肿瘤的发展中起着至关重要的作用。目前已有研究证实食管鳞癌中存在肿瘤干细胞,并与肿瘤的复发、转移及抗放化疗等恶性生物学行为密切相关,从而成为食管鳞癌不良预后的重要因素。而HIPPO/YAP信号通路在维持肿瘤干细胞的肿瘤启动、自我更新、耐药性等干性特征中占据着重要的位置。本文就食管鳞癌肿瘤干细胞与HIPPO/YAP信号通路的研究进展进行综述。

The theory of cancer stem cells proposes a new understanding of tumor. The theory believes that there are very few tumor stem cells in tumor tissue, which have the ability of self-renewal and unlimited proliferation,and which is crucial for initiating tumor occurrence and maintaining tumor development. At present, studies have confirmed the existence of tumor stem cells in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, which is closely related to malignant biological behaviors such as tumor recurrence, metastasis, and anti-radiotherapy, thus becoming an important factor for poor prognosis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. The HIPPO/YAP signaling pathway plays an important role in maintaining cancer stem cell characteristics such as tumor initiation, self-renewal, and drug resistance of tumor stem cells. This paper reviews the research progress of cancer stem cells and HIPPO/YAP signaling pathway in esophageal cancer.