Gallbladder cancer stem cell markers: An updated brief review

Abstract

Gallbladder cancer is the most aggressive gastrointestinal tract cancer. It is a leading cause of cancer deaths in north india. The symptoms of gallbladder cancer are non specific, patients are diagnosed at very last stage, as a result, most of the patients die within 6 months of the disease, and hence the average 5-year survival is low to 5%. Cancer stem cell hypothesis provides an important cellular mechanism to understand the abnormal behavior exhibited by the tumors. Therefore, cancer stem cell markers may serve as novel therapeutic targets as well as diagnostic or prognostic markers in gallbladder cancer. In this review, we provide an overview of gallbladder cancer with the aim of concerning the role of cancer stem cell marker in the signaling pathways implicated along with the significant role of cancer stem cell markers in gallbladder cancer.