Pancreatic Cancer and Therapy: Role and Regulation of Cancer Stem Cells

Despite significant improvements in clinical management, pancreatic cancer (PC) remains one of the deadliest cancer types, as it is prone to late detection with extreme metastatic properties. The recent findings that pancreatic cancer stem cells (PaCSCs) contribute to the tumorigenesis, progression,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of molecular sciences 2021-04, Vol.22 (9), p.4765
Main Authors: Barman, Susmita, Fatima, Iram, Singh, Amar B, Dhawan, Punita
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cancer therapies
Chemoresistance
Chemotherapy
Evolution & development
Gene expression
Growth factors
Heterogeneity
K-Ras protein
Kinases
Malignancy
Metabolism
Metastases
Metastasis
Mutation
Pancreatic cancer
Patients
Population
Review
Signal transduction
Stem cells
Transforming growth factor-b
Tumorigenesis
Tumors
Wnt protein
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Summary:Despite significant improvements in clinical management, pancreatic cancer (PC) remains one of the deadliest cancer types, as it is prone to late detection with extreme metastatic properties. The recent findings that pancreatic cancer stem cells (PaCSCs) contribute to the tumorigenesis, progression, and chemoresistance have offered significant insight into the cancer malignancy and development of precise therapies. However, the heterogeneity of cancer and signaling pathways that regulate PC have posed limitations in the effective targeting of the PaCSCs. In this regard, the role for K-RAS, TP53, Transforming Growth Factor-β, hedgehog, Wnt and Notch and other signaling pathways in PC progression is well documented. In this review, we discuss the role of PaCSCs, the underlying molecular and signaling pathways that help promote pancreatic cancer development and metastasis with a specific focus on the regulation of PaCSCs. We also discuss the therapeutic approaches that target different PaCSCs, intricate mechanisms, and therapeutic opportunities to eliminate heterogeneous PaCSCs populations in pancreatic cancer.
ISSN:1422-0067
1661-6596
1422-0067
DOI:10.3390/ijms22094765