Deciphering Common Traits of Breast and Ovarian Cancer Stem Cells and Possible Therapeutic Approaches

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 24; no. 13; p. 10683
• Main Authors: Lučić, Ivan, Kurtović, Matea, Mlinarić, Monika, Piteša, Nikolina, Čipak Gašparović, Ana, Sabol, Maja, Milković, Lidija
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 26-06-2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Breast - metabolism; Breast cancer; Breast Neoplasms - metabolism; Cancer; cancer stem cells (CSC); Care and treatment; Cell self-renewal; CSC markers; Diagnosis; Female; Health aspects; Heterogeneity; Humans; Immunosurveillance; Mutation; Neoplastic Stem Cells - metabolism; Ovarian cancer; Ovarian Neoplasms - metabolism; Remission; Review; signaling pathways; Stem cells; Transplantation; Tumor Microenvironment; Tumors; Womens health; Canada; cancer stem cells (CSC); in vitro and in vivo models; CSC markers; signaling pathways; ovarian cancer; CSC-targeted therapy; breast cancer; tumor microenvironment; cancer immunoediting
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms241310683

Breast cancer (BC) and ovarian cancer (OC) are among the most common and deadly cancers affecting women worldwide. Both are complex diseases with marked heterogeneity. Despite the induction of screening programs that increase the frequency of earlier diagnosis of BC, at a stage when the cancer is more likely to respond to therapy, which does not exist for OC, more than 50% of both cancers are diagnosed at an advanced stage. Initial therapy can put the cancer into remission. However, recurrences occur frequently in both BC and OC, which are highly cancer-subtype dependent. Therapy resistance is mainly attributed to a rare subpopulation of cells, named cancer stem cells (CSC) or tumor-initiating cells, as they are capable of self-renewal, tumor initiation, and regrowth of tumor bulk. In this review, we will discuss the distinctive markers and signaling pathways that characterize CSC, their interactions with the tumor microenvironment, and the strategies they employ to evade immune surveillance. Our focus will be on identifying the common features of breast cancer stem cells (BCSC) and ovarian cancer stem cells (OCSC) and suggesting potential therapeutic approaches.