About this Research Topic
Conventional cancer therapies including surgical tumor resection, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, not only destroy tumor cells, but also damage healthy cells, leading to numerous unwanted side effects such as a lack of appetite, anemia, internal bleeding, and fatigue. Cancer tumors have a relatively small subpopulation of cells, typically less than one percent, which are highly resistant to conventional therapies, known as cancer stem cells (CSCs). Studies have identified CSCs in almost all types of cancer, including pancreatic, gastric, brain, colon, prostate, and lung cancer. CSCs possess a unique set of functional characteristics, including being purified with specific biomarkers and/or signaling pathways, growing colonies in suspension cultures, and being resistant to conventional therapies. CSCs also have diverse cell membrane receptors and display high metastatic potential thereby contributing to the resistance to conventional anticancer therapy. The CSCs are the reservoirs of cancer cells that contribute to multiple tumor malignancies such as heterogeneity, recurrence, metastasis, multidrug resistance, and radiation resistance. The development of resistance to therapy is a common occurrence in several malignancies that leads to frequent relapse and metastasis.
The invention and development of CSC-targeting therapeutic agents are imperative. Although countless strategies have been devised to specifically target CSCs, most have been unsuccessful. Using nanotechnology for cancer treatment could lead to new approaches that specifically and effectively target CSCs, potentially bypassing such resistance mechanisms and eliminating unwanted side effects. Nanoparticles (NPs) are designed with a high loading of cargo molecules and good internalization efficiency for delivering drugs into neoplastic cells for selective destruction and reducing drug distribution to normal adjacent cells, resulting in a reduction of toxicity, especially in cancerous cells. A targeted nanoparticle that can inhibit multiple types of CSCs by targeting specific markers and signaling pathways and other key developmental pathways could be implicated in the maintenance of tumor CSC pools. In order to develop new therapeutic targets and improve current clinical therapeutic strategies, a deeper understanding of epigenetic regulation of self-renewal and non-CSC reprogramming will be imperative.
NP-based therapeutic approaches are superior to small molecule pharmaceutical agents-based therapeutic strategies; however, there is not enough information available at this time to make an accurate statement about their therapeutic potential. Once the mechanism is understood, it can lead to a better understanding of CSC self-renewal and non-CSC reprogramming. Nanomedicine can provide insight into the treatment of cancer patients by targeting CSCs, and enabling future NP studies crucial in developing effective treatment strategies that are more effective at delivering drugs to cancer patients, more specific to CSCs, and with fewer side effects.
This research topic aims to advance our insight into the NPs interaction with CSCs as/using therapeutic molecules/agents influencing the efficacy of tumor therapies. We welcome the investigation which focus on:
1. Identification of CSCs and the development of improved experimental methods
2. Engineering innovative and precise NPs for synergistic and efficient targeting of CSCs
3. Molecular signaling pathways involved in CSCs and possible therapeutic agents that could target these pathways.
4. Implementing measures to ensure toxicity to normal neighboring cells.
We encourage the contribution of original research articles, and reviews related to the topic in the sections of Frontiers in Oncology.
Please note: Manuscripts which are not accompanied by validation (in vitro/ in vivo/clinical) will not be accepted in the sections of Frontiers in Oncology.
The invention and development of CSC-targeting therapeutic agents are imperative. Although countless strategies have been devised to specifically target CSCs, most have been unsuccessful. Using nanotechnology for cancer treatment could lead to new approaches that specifically and effectively target CSCs, potentially bypassing such resistance mechanisms and eliminating unwanted side effects. Nanoparticles (NPs) are designed with a high loading of cargo molecules and good internalization efficiency for delivering drugs into neoplastic cells for selective destruction and reducing drug distribution to normal adjacent cells, resulting in a reduction of toxicity, especially in cancerous cells. A targeted nanoparticle that can inhibit multiple types of CSCs by targeting specific markers and signaling pathways and other key developmental pathways could be implicated in the maintenance of tumor CSC pools. In order to develop new therapeutic targets and improve current clinical therapeutic strategies, a deeper understanding of epigenetic regulation of self-renewal and non-CSC reprogramming will be imperative.
NP-based therapeutic approaches are superior to small molecule pharmaceutical agents-based therapeutic strategies; however, there is not enough information available at this time to make an accurate statement about their therapeutic potential. Once the mechanism is understood, it can lead to a better understanding of CSC self-renewal and non-CSC reprogramming. Nanomedicine can provide insight into the treatment of cancer patients by targeting CSCs, and enabling future NP studies crucial in developing effective treatment strategies that are more effective at delivering drugs to cancer patients, more specific to CSCs, and with fewer side effects.
This research topic aims to advance our insight into the NPs interaction with CSCs as/using therapeutic molecules/agents influencing the efficacy of tumor therapies. We welcome the investigation which focus on:
1. Identification of CSCs and the development of improved experimental methods
2. Engineering innovative and precise NPs for synergistic and efficient targeting of CSCs
3. Molecular signaling pathways involved in CSCs and possible therapeutic agents that could target these pathways.
4. Implementing measures to ensure toxicity to normal neighboring cells.
We encourage the contribution of original research articles, and reviews related to the topic in the sections of Frontiers in Oncology.
Please note: Manuscripts which are not accompanied by validation (in vitro/ in vivo/clinical) will not be accepted in the sections of Frontiers in Oncology.
Keywords: Cancer stem cell, multidrug resistance, Active and Passive Targeting, Nanomaterials, Markers, Signaling pathway
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
