Advance in metabolism and target therapy in breast cancer stem cells

Figure 1 Metabolic targeted therapy of breast cancer stem cells. Breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs) have been demonstrated to contribute to tumor heterogeneity and relapse (metastasis and tumor recurrence). The metabolic features of BCSCs significantly differ from those of non-BCSC differentiated tumor cells. Conventional chemotherapy or radiotherapy can effectively kill breast cancer cells, thereby dramatically reducing tumor size. The remaining BCSCs can survive and enhance tumor relapse due to their ability to establish higher invasiveness and resistance to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. A combination treatment with metabolic targeted therapy of BCSCs and conventional therapy could be a more effective strategy to treat breast cancer. BCSCs: Breast cancer stem cells; BC: Breast cancer.