Cancer plasticity: Investigating the causes for this agility

Cancer is not a hard-wired phenomenon but an evolutionary disease. From the onset of carcinogenesis, cancer cells continuously adapt and evolve to satiate their ever-growing proliferation demands. This results in the formation of multiple subtypes of cancer cells with different phenotypes, cellular...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Seminars in cancer biology 2023-01, Vol.88, p.138-156
Main Authors: Saha, Shubhraneel, Pradhan, Nikita, B, Neha, Mahadevappa, Ravikiran, Minocha, Shilpi, Kumar, Saran
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cancer heterogeneity
Cancer plasticity
Cancer Stem Cells
Cancer therapy
Carcinogenesis - metabolism
Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition
Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition - genetics
Humans
Neoplasms - genetics
Neoplasms - metabolism
Neoplastic Stem Cells - metabolism
Therapy resistance
Tumor microenvironment
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Cancer is not a hard-wired phenomenon but an evolutionary disease. From the onset of carcinogenesis, cancer cells continuously adapt and evolve to satiate their ever-growing proliferation demands. This results in the formation of multiple subtypes of cancer cells with different phenotypes, cellular compositions, and consequently displaying varying degrees of tumorigenic identity and function. This phenomenon is referred to as cancer plasticity, during which the cancer cells exist in a plethora of cellular states having distinct phenotypes. With the advent of modern technologies equipped with enhanced resolution and depth, for example, single-cell RNA-sequencing and advanced computational tools, unbiased cancer profiling at a single-cell resolution are leading the way in understanding cancer cell rewiring both spatially and temporally. In this review, the processes and mechanisms that give rise to cancer plasticity include both intrinsic genetic factors such as epigenetic changes, differential expression due to changes in DNA, RNA, or protein content within the cancer cell, as well as extrinsic environmental factors such as tissue perfusion, extracellular milieu are detailed and their influence on key cancer plasticity hallmarks such as epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and cancer cell stemness (CSCs) are discussed. Due to therapy evasion and drug resistance, tumor heterogeneity caused by cancer plasticity has major therapeutic ramifications. Hence, it is crucial to comprehend all the cellular and molecular mechanisms that control cellular plasticity. How this process evades therapy, and the therapeutic avenue of targeting cancer plasticity must be diligently investigated. [Display omitted]
ISSN:1044-579X
1096-3650
DOI:10.1016/j.semcancer.2022.12.005