Cancer stem cells and oral cancer: insights into molecular mechanisms and therapeutic approaches

Abstract

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) have been identified as a little population of cancer cells, which have features as the same as the cells normal stem cells. There is enough knowledge of the CSCs responsibility for metastasis, medicine resistance, and cancer outbreak. Therefore, CSCs control possibly provides an efficient treatment intervention inhibiting tumor growth and invasion. In spite of the significance of targeting CSCs in treating cancer, few study comprehensively explored the nature of oral CSCs. It has been showed that oral CSCs are able to contribute to oral cancer progression though activation/inhibition a sequences of cellular and molecular pathways (microRNA network, histone modifications and calcium regulation). Hence, more understanding about the properties of oral cancers and their behaviors will help us to develop new therapeutic platforms. Head and neck CSCs remain a viable and intriguing option for targeted therapy. Multiple investigations suggested the major contribution of the CSCs to the metastasis, tumorigenesis, and resistance to the new therapeutic regimes. Therefore, experts in the field are examining the encouraging targeted therapeutic choices. In spite of the advancements, there are not enough information in this area and thus a magic bullet for targeting and eliminating the CSCs deviated us. Hence, additional investigations on the combined therapies against the head and neck CSCs could offer considerable achievements. The present research is a review of the recent information on oral CSCs, and focused on current advancements in new signaling pathways contributed to their stemness regulation. Moreover, we highlighted various therapeutic approaches against oral CSCs.

A Novel Long Non‐Coding RNA lnc030 Maintains Breast Cancer Stem Cell Stemness by Stabilizing SQLE mRNA and Increasing Cholesterol Synthesis

“…Lnc030 is located in human chromosome 8q24. 13 and is a 412nt transcript with 2 exons ( Figure S1B, Supporting Information), which has no coding potential evaluated by online bioinformatics analysis (http://cpc.cbi.pku.edu.cn) ( Figure S1C, Supporting Information). Lnc030 was highly expressed in CSC mammospheres derived from Hs578T and BT549 cells and mod-erately expressed in CSC mammospheres derived from MCF-7 as compared to their parental cells ( Figure 1B).…”

“…[ 12 ] Emerging evidence suggests targeting CSCs may be effective approach for anti‐cancer treatment. [ 13 ] An in‐depth understanding of the mechanisms underlying the CSC stemness property is critical for eradicating CSC. However, it is unclear how BCSCs maintain their stemness.…”

Tumor-Infiltrating CD20+ B Lymphocytes: Significance and Prognostic Implications in Oral Cancer Microenvironment

“…According to the cancer stem cells (CSCs) model, tumors are composed of heterogeneous cellular components including a rare subpopulation (0.01–10% of cells within the tumor [ 18 ]) exhibiting CSC self-renewal and plasticity. This subset of CSC pluripotent cells has been demonstrated to play crucial roles in tumor initiation, progression, aggressiveness, heterogeneity, metastasis, recurrence, and treatment resistance [ 19 , 20 , 21 ]. CSCs bear stemness properties supported by gene master regulators, such as NANOG and SOX2 [ 22 ], involved in OSCC tumorigenesis, poor differentiation, and bad prognosis [ 23 , 24 , 25 ].…”

Cancer Stem Cell Markers in Squamous Cell Carcinomas of the Salivary Glands

“…In head and neck malignancies, several epitopes of CSCs have not only been used to histologically identify CSCs, but are also believed to play key roles in oncogenesis as well as progression (including metastasis and medicine resistance) and prognosis of the disease [9].…”