Surface markers of hepatocellular cancer stem cells and their clinical potential

Abstract

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a small subpopulation of cells within tumors with capabilities of self-renewal, differentiation, and tumorigenicity when transplanted into immune-comprised mice. Accumulating evidences have shown that CSCs or tumor-initiating cells are key drivers of tumor formation and progression in both solid tumors and haematological malignancies. Identification of the CSCs or tumor-initiating cells is a fundamental and important problem in cancer research. There is still a lack of consensus regarding the existence of a "global" marker for CSCs in different human cancers, but isolated CSCs have shown both the tumor-propagating ability in immune-compromised mice and the capacity to fully recapitulate the original heterogeneity of cell types. Several cell surface markers, including CD133, CD44 and CD90, were often used to identify and enrich CSCs. Although not all types of cancer follow the CSC theory, it provides an attractive cellular mechanism to account for the therapeutic resistance and recurrence of the disease. Here we provide a brief review regarding the markers for identification of CSCs in hepatocellular cancer, allowing us to deep understand of the cellular organization of HCC and to develop therapies that target specific CSCs.

Prognostic relevance of miR‐137 in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

“…As mentioned above, some CSC markers have reportedly been used to isolate liver cancer stem cells. EpCAM and CD44 have been used for isolation of both liver stem/progenitor cells and liver CSCs . Additionally, CD44, CD13 and CD44v9 are commonly expressed in different types of cancers .…”

“…EpCAM and CD44 have been used for isolation of both liver stem/progenitor cells and liver CSCs. [16][17][18] Additionally, CD44, CD13 and CD44v9 are commonly expressed in different types of cancers. 19,20 These reports suggest linkage of these cell surface markers with the origin of cancer stem cells as per the cancer stem cell theory.…”

Integrin β4–Targeted Cancer Immunotherapies Inhibit Tumor Growth and Decrease Metastasis

“…There is increasing evidence that therapeutic resistance and tumor relapse may be mediated by a subset of tumor cells that display stem cell properties (1)(2)(3). These cancer stem cells (CSC) lack expression of differentiation antigens and may display inherent resistant to a variety of immunotherapeutic approaches (2,4). The ability of CSCs to escape recognition and elimination by the immune system may contribute to the limited clinical efficacy of current cancer immunotherapies.…”

Association Between Expression of Cancer Stem Cell Markers and Poor Differentiation of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

“…Several cell surface markers, including CD133, CD44, CD90, and EpCAM are often used to identify and enrich HCC CSCs. 9 According to the CSC theory, multistep dedifferentiation induced by the CSCs is considered important for multicentric carcinogenesis and aggressive phenotype. However, the relation between the expression of CSC markers and poor differentiation of HCC remains uncertain.…”