New Advances in Cancer Stem Cell Targeted Therapeutics: Mechanisms, Signaling, and Prospective Agents

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are currently defined as a subset of cells with the ability to self-renewal and differentiate into heterogeneous cancer cell lineages that constitute cancer tissue. The characteristics of CSCs are the ability to promote carcinogenesis, cancer progression, and self-renew, which lead to the formation of differentiated progeny and develop therapeutic resistance. The origin and related biological molecular mechanisms of CSCs have not been fully elucidated, but there is evidence showing that they are derived from the normal stem or progenitor cells, or possibly other cancer cells. Existing research has shown that CSCs are the subpopulation of cancer cells that have the properties of stem cells. CSCs refer particularly to those types of cancer cells which can be self-renew and can produce a variety of more differentiated cell types. It’s reported that CSCs are located at the apex of the cancer cell hierarchy and are important drivers of cancer progression. It’s beneficial to improve patient outcomes and reduce cancer recurrence by changing treatment regimens with the further elucidation of the key characteristics and mechanisms of drug resistance of CSCs. Therefore, elucidating the biological mechanisms of CSCs-mediated drug resistance, the specific CSCs-related signaling pathways mediating treatment failure, and potential CSCs-targeted therapy drugs are of great clinical significance.

This Research Topic aims to summarize the latest research on new advances in CSCs-targeted therapeutics. We welcome both original research articles and reviews covering, but not limited to, the followings:

1. The intrinsic and extrinsic biological mechanisms of CSCs therapy resistance.
2. Targeting CSCs-related signaling pathways for effective therapy.
3. Molecular drivers and mechanisms underlying CSC-based therapy resistance and metastatic dissemination.
4. Novel strategies for drug repurposing or repositioning and their effects on the behavior of CSCs, as well as strategies for therapeutically targeting CSCs while sparing normal stem cells.
5. Combination of CSC-targeted therapeutics and conventional treatment to prevent cancer recurrence.
6. Discovery of CSC antigens as targets for immunotherapy.
7. Differentiation of CSCs by using synthetic small molecules: novel therapeutic strategies against therapy resistance.

Please note: manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics or computational analysis of public genomic or transcriptomic databases which are not accompanied by validation (independent cohort or biological validation in vitro or in vivo) are out of scope for this section and will not be accepted as part of this Research Topic.