Targeting the osteosarcoma cancer stem cell.
review · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 20979639.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1186/1749-799X-5-78 and PMC identifier 2988747.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Osteosarcoma is the most common type of solid bone cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related death in pediatric patients. Many patients are not cured by the current osteosarcoma therapy consisting of combination chemotherapy along with surgery and thus new treatments are urgently needed. In the last decade, cancer stem cells have been identified in many tumors such as leukemia, brain, breast, head and neck, colon, skin, pancreatic, and prostate cancers and these cells are proposed to play major roles in drug resistance, tumor recurrence, and metastasis. Recent studies have shown evidence that osteosarcoma also possesses cancer stem cells. This review summarizes the current knowledge about the osteosarcoma cancer stem cell including the methods used for its isolation, its properties, and its potential as a new target for osteosarcoma treatment.