A novel strategy for cancer treatment: Targeting cancer stem cells

Cancer stem cell/tumor-initiating cell (CSC/TIC) is a subclass of cancer cells possessing parts of properties of normal stem cell. It has a high capacity of proliferation and plays a pivotal role in tumor recurrence and tumor resistance to radiotherapy and chemotherapy. At present, small molecule in- hibitors and fusion proteins are widely used in the CSC-targeting strategy. Gene-virotherapy, which uses oncolytic adenovirus as a vector to mediate the expression of therapeutic gene, shows a signifi- cant superiority to other regimens of cancer treatment and has a good efficacy in the treatment of solid tumors.Thus, it is a promising choice to apply gene-virotherapy into the CSC-targeting treatment. Based on the molecular mechanism underlying CSC self-renewal,a series of effective strategies for targeting CSC have been established. This review will summarize the recent research progresses on CSC-targeting treatment.