Stem Cell Plasticity and Dormancy in the Development of Cancer Therapy Resistance.

ABSTRACT: Cancer treatment with either standard chemotherapy or targeted agents often results in the emergence of drug-refractory cell populations, ultimately leading to therapy failure. The biological features of drug resistant cells are largely overlapping with those of cancer stem cells and include heterogeneity, plasticity, self-renewal ability, and tumor-initiating capacity. Moreover, drug resistance is usually characterized by a suppression of proliferation that can manifest as quiescence, dormancy, senescence, or proliferative slowdown. Alterations in key cellular pathways such as autophagy, unfolded protein response or redox signaling, as well as metabolic adaptations also contribute to the establishment of drug resistance, thus representing attractive therapeutic targets. Moreover, a comple

SUBMITTER: De Angelis ML 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6636659 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature