Hepatic cancer stem cells and drug resistance: Relevance in targeted therapies for hepatocellular carcinoma

Figure 2 The CSCs-targeted therapy strategy. Conventional therapies affecting mainly the differentiated cells might not be sufficient to eradicate total tumor. In the CSCs-targeted therapy, chemotherapeutic agents is specially designed to target the CSCs. This strategy may primary block the main source and consistently inhibit the growth of tumor. Some factors such as CSCs pathways, tumor subtypes and drugs transporters inhibitions should be considered to increase the efficiency and safety of the treatment.