Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells in cancer therapy

• Published in: Journal of hematology and oncology Vol. 14; no. 1; p. 195
• Main Authors: Lan, Tianxia, Luo, Min, Wei, Xiawei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 17.11.2021; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Adipocytes; Angiogenesis; Animals; Anticancer strategy; Antimitotic agents; Antineoplastic agents; Apoptosis; B cells; Body fat; Bone marrow; Breast cancer; Cancer; Cancer therapies; Care and treatment; Cell cycle; Cellular signal transduction; Chondrocytes; Clinical trials; Gene expression; Good Manufacturing Practice; Graft versus host disease; Growth factors; Health aspects; Hematology; Humans; Immunomodulation; Kinases; Lymphocytes; Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation - methods; Mesenchymal Stem Cells - cytology; Mesenchymal Stem Cells - immunology; Mesenchyme; Metastasis; MSC; Neoplasms - immunology; Neoplasms - therapy; Oncology; Osteocytes; Prostate; Review; Signal transduction; Signaling pathway; Stem cells; Stromal cells; Therapeutic mechanism; Translational Science, Biomedical; Tumor-homing; Tumors; Umbilical cord; Signaling pathway; MSC; Therapeutic mechanism; Tumor-homing; Immunomodulation; Anticancer strategy
• ISSN: 1756-8722; 1756-8722
• DOI: 10.1186/s13045-021-01208-w

The multipotent mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs), initially discovered from bone marrow in 1976, have been identified in nearly all tissues of human body now. The multipotency of MSCs allows them to give rise to osteocytes, chondrocytes, adipocytes, and other lineages. Moreover, armed with the immunomodulation capacity and tumor-homing property, MSCs are of special relevance for cell-based therapies in the treatment of cancer. However, hampered by lack of knowledge about the controversial roles that MSC plays in the crosstalk with tumors, limited progress has been made with regard to translational medicine. Therefore, in this review, we discuss the prospects of MSC-associated anticancer strategies in light of therapeutic mechanisms and signal transduction pathways. In addition, the clinical trials designed to appraise the efficacy and safety of MSC-based anticancer therapies will be assessed according to published data.