Characteristics of Cancer Stem Cells and Their Potential Role in Endometrial Cancer

• Published in: Cancers Vol. 16; no. 6; p. 1083
• Main Authors: Frąszczak, Karolina, Barczyński, Bartłomiej
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 07.03.2024; MDPI
• Subjects: Cancer; Cancer therapies; CD40 antigen; CD44 antigen; CD9 antigen; Cell differentiation; Cell proliferation; Cell self-renewal; Chemotherapy; Classification; Developing countries; Development and progression; Endocrine therapy; Endometrial cancer; Endometrium; Epigenetics; Growth factors; Hypoxia; LDCs; Medical prognosis; Metastasis; Mutation; Notch1 protein; Patients; Pollutants; Proteomics; Review; Signal transduction; Stem cells; Transcription factors; Tumorigenicity; Tumors; Uterine cancer; Wnt protein; Womens health; β-Catenin; United States > US; endometrial cancer; CD117; cancer stem cells; CD44; CD133
• ISSN: 2072-6694; 2072-6694
• DOI: 10.3390/cancers16061083

Endometrial cancer is one of most common types of gynaecological tumours in developing countries. It has been suggested that cancer stem cells play an important role in the development of endometrial cancer. These are a subset of highly tumorigenic cells with similar features to normal stem cells (unlimited proliferation, multi-potential differentiation, self-renewal, aggressiveness, invasion, recurrence, and chemo- and endocrine therapy resistance). Wnt/β-catenin, Hedghog, and Notch1 are the most frequently activated pathways in endometrial cancer stem cells. The presence of cancer stem cells is associated with the resistance to chemotherapy caused by different mechanisms. Various markers, including CD24, CD40, CD44, CD9, CD133, and CD 166, have been identified on the surface of these cells. A higher expression of such markers translates into enhanced tumorigenicity. However, there is no strong evidence showing that any of these identified markers can be used as the universal marker for endometrial cancer stem cells. Growing data from genomic and proteomic profiling shed some light on the understanding of the molecular basis of cancers in humans and the role of cancer stem cells. However, there is much left to discover. Therefore, more studies are needed to fully uncover their functional mechanisms in order to prevent the development and recurrence of cancer, as well as to enhance treatment effectiveness.