Dormancy, stemness, and therapy resistance: interconnected players in cancer evolution.

ABSTRACT: The biological complexity of cancer represents a tremendous clinical challenge, resulting in the frequent failure of current treatment protocols. In the rapidly evolving scenario of a growing tumor, anticancer treatments impose a drastic perturbation not only to cancer cells but also to the tumor microenvironment, killing a portion of the cells and inducing a massive stress response in the survivors. Consequently, treatments can act as a double-edged sword by inducing a temporary response while laying the ground for therapy resistance and subsequent disease progression. Cancer cell dormancy (or quiescence) is a central theme in tumor evolution, being tightly linked to the tumor's ability to survive cytotoxic challenges, metastasize, and resist immune-mediated attack. Accordingly, quiescent

SUBMITTER: Francescangeli F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10014678 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature