Current understanding of cancer stem cells: Immune evasion and targeted immunotherapy in gastrointestinal malignancies.

ABSTRACT: As a relatively rare population of cancer cells existing in the tumor microenvironment, cancer stem cells (CSCs) possess properties of immune privilege to evade the attack of immune system, regulated by the microenvironment of CSCs, the so-called CSCs niche. The bidirectional interaction of CSCs with tumor microenvironment (TME) components favors an immunosuppressive shelter for CSCs' survival and maintenance. Gastrointestinal cancer stem cells (GCSCs) are broadly regarded to be intimately involved in tumor initiation, progression, metastasis and recurrence, with elevated tumor resistance to conventional therapies, which pose a major hindrance to the clinical efficacy for treated patients with gastrointestinal malignancies. Thus, a multitude of efforts have been made to combat and eradicat

SUBMITTER: An J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9996315 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature