Crucial role of interleukin-4 in the survival of colon cancer stem cells.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 18519657.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-07-6874.
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Abstract
Colon tumors may be maintained by a rare fraction of cancer stem-like cells (CSC) that express the cell surface marker CD133. Self-renewing CSCs exhibit relatively greater resistance to clinical cytotoxic therapies and recent work suggests that this resistance may be mediated in part by an autocrine response to the immune cytokine interleukin 4 (IL-4). Blocking IL-4 signaling can sensitize CSCs to apoptotic stimuli and increase the in vivo efficacy of cytotoxic therapy. These findings suggest that inhibitors of IL-4 signaling may offer a new therapeutic tool in colon carcinoma.
Medical subject headings
- Cell Survival
- Colonic Neoplasms
- Interleukin-4
- Neoplastic Stem Cells