EMT, CTCs and CSCs in tumor relapse and drug-resistance

Abhisek Mitra; Lopa Mishra; Shulin Li

doi:10.18632/oncotarget.4037

Oncotarget

Oncotarget (a primarily oncology-focused, peer-reviewed, open access journal) aims to maximize research impact through insightful peer-review; eliminate borders between specialties by linking different fields of oncology, cancer research and biomedical sciences; and foster application of basic and clinical science.

Its scope is unique. The term "oncotarget" encompasses all molecules, pathways, cellular functions, cell types, and even tissues that can be viewed as targets relevant to cancer as well as other diseases. The term was introduced in the inaugural Editorial, Introducing Oncotarget.

As of January 1, 2022, Oncotarget has shifted to a continuous publishing model. Papers will now be published continuously within yearly volumes in their final and complete form and then quickly released to Pubmed.

Subscribe to receive alerts once a paper has been published by Oncotarget.

Impact Journals, LLC is the publisher of Oncotarget: www.impactjournals.com.

Impact Journals is a member of the Wellcome Trust List of Compliant Publishers.

Impact Journals is a member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing.

On December 23, 2022, Oncotarget server experienced a DDoS attack. As a result, Oncotarget site was inaccessible for a few hours. Oncotarget team swiftly dealt with the situation and took it under control. This malicious action will be reported to the FBI.

Reviews:

EMT, CTCs and CSCs in tumor relapse and drug-resistance

Abhisek Mitra, Lopa Mishra and Shulin Li _

PDF | HTML | How to cite

Oncotarget. 2015; 6:10697-10711. https://doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.4037

Metrics: PDF 5500 views | HTML 7930 views | ?

Abstract

Abhisek Mitra1, Lopa Mishra2 and Shulin Li1

1 Department of Pediatrics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA

2 Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA

Correspondence to:

Shulin Li, email:

Keywords: tumor relapse, CTCs, CSCs, EMT, clinical trials

Received: February 02, 2015 Accepted: April 20, 2015 Published: May 08, 2015

Abstract

Tumor relapse and metastasis are the primary causes of poor survival rates in patients with advanced cancer despite successful resection or chemotherapeutic treatment. A primary cause of relapse and metastasis is the persistence of cancer stem cells (CSCs), which are highly resistant to chemotherapy. Although highly efficacious drugs suppressing several subpopulations of CSCs in various tissue-specific cancers are available, recurrence is still common in patients. To find more suitable therapy for relapse, the mechanisms underlying metastasis and drug-resistance associated with relapse-initiating CSCs need to be identified. Recent studies in circulating tumor cells (CTCs) of some cancer patients manifest phenotypes of both CSCs and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). These patients are unresponsive to standard chemotherapies and have low progression free survival, suggesting that EMT-positive CTCs are related to co-occur with or transform into relapse-initiating CSCs. Furthermore, EMT programming in cancer cells enables in the remodeling of extracellular matrix to break the dormancy of relapse-initiating CSCs. In this review, we extensively discuss the association of the EMT program with CTCs and CSCs to characterize a subpopulation of patients prone to relapses. Identifying the mechanisms by which EMT-transformed CTCs and CSCs initiate relapse could facilitate the development of new or enhanced personalized therapeutic regimens.

All site content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
PII: 4037

Publication Alerts

Reviews:

EMT, CTCs and CSCs in tumor relapse and drug-resistance

Abstract