Khan S, Suryavanshi M, Kaur J, Nayak D, Khurana A, Manchanda RK, Tandon C, Tandon S. Stem cell therapy: A paradigm shift in breast cancer treatment. World J Stem Cells 2021; 13(7): 841-860 [PMID: 34367480 DOI: 10.4252/wjsc.v13.i7.841]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Simran Tandon, PhD, Professor, Amity Institute of Molecular Medicine and Stem Cell Research, Amity University, Sector 125, Noida 201313, Uttar Pradesh, India. standon1@amity.edu
Research Domain of This Article
Oncology
Article-Type of This Article
Review
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Sabiha Khan, Simran Tandon, Amity Institute of Molecular Medicine and Stem Cell Research, Amity University, Noida 201313, Uttar Pradesh, India
Moushumi Suryavanshi, Department of Pathology, Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute and Research Centre, New Delhi 110085, India
Jasamrit Kaur, Department of Chemistry, Goswami Ganesh Dutta Sanatan Dharma College, Chandigarh 160030, India
Debadatta Nayak, Anil Khurana, Central Council for Research in Homeopathy, New Delhi 110058, India
Raj Kumar Manchanda, Department of AYUSH, Karol Bagh, New Delhi 110011, India
Chanderdeep Tandon, Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University, Noida 201313, Uttar Pradesh, India
Author contributions: All the authors contributed equally towards the concept and structure of the review; the manuscript was written by Khan S under the supervision and guidance of the corresponding author Tandon S; the final draft of the review was reviewed and approved by all the authors.
Supported byCentral Council for Research in Homeopathy (CCRH), AYUSH (Govt. of India), No. 17-03/2019-20/CCRH/Tech/Coll/Amity/7284.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Simran Tandon, PhD, Professor, Amity Institute of Molecular Medicine and Stem Cell Research, Amity University, Sector 125, Noida 201313, Uttar Pradesh, India. standon1@amity.edu
Received: February 24, 2021 Peer-review started: February 24, 2021 First decision: April 20, 2021 Revised: April 30, 2021 Accepted: June 17, 2021 Article in press: June 17, 2021 Published online: July 26, 2021
Abstract
As per the latest Globocan statistics, the high prevalence rate of breast cancer in low- and middle-income countries has led to it becoming the most common cancer to be diagnosed, hence posing a major public health challenge. As per this data, more than 11.7% of the estimated new cancer cases in 2020 were due to breast cancer. A small but significant subpopulation of cells with self- renewing ability are present in the tumor stroma and have been given the nomenclature of cancer stem cells (CSCs). These cells display a high degree of plasticity owing to their ability to transition from the slowly cycling quiescent phase to the actively proliferating phenotype. This attribute of CSCs allows them to differentiate into various cell types having diverse functions. Breast CSCs have a pivotal role in development, metastasis, treatment resistance and relapse of breast cancers. This review focuses on the pathways regulating breast CSC maintenance and the current strategies that are being explored for directing the development of novel, targeted, therapeutic approaches for limiting and eradicating this aberrant stem cell population.
Core Tip: Breast cancer is a complex, heterogeneous disease with distinct cancer subtypes, identified through gene expression profiling. The aim of this review is to understand the pathway driven, mechanistic control of breast cancer stem cells and explore the clinical and experimental studies investigating the role of breast cancer stem cells in disease progression. Key factors that are pivotal in breast cancer stem cell growth and their malignant behavior in breast cancer will be elucidated.
