Therapeutic antibodies against cancer stem cells: a promising approach.
Smarakan SnehaRohit Pravin NagareSyama Krishna PriyaChirukandath SidhanthKlaus PorsTrivadi Sundaram GanesanPublished in: Cancer immunology, immunotherapy : CII (2017)
Monoclonal antibodies have been extensively used to treat malignancy along with routine chemotherapeutic drugs. Chemotherapy for metastatic cancer has not been successful in securing long-term remission of disease. This is in part due to the resistance of cancer cells to drugs. One aspect of the drug resistance is the inability of conventional drugs to eliminate cancer stem cells (CSCs) which often constitute less than 1-2% of the whole tumor. In some tumor types, it is possible to identify these cells using surface markers. Monoclonal antibodies targeting these CSCs are an attractive option for a new therapeutic approach. Although administering antibodies has not been effective, when combined with chemotherapy they have proved synergistic. This review highlights the potential of improving treatment efficacy using functional antibodies against CSCs, which could be combined with chemotherapy in the future.
Keyphrases
- cancer stem cells
- locally advanced
- squamous cell carcinoma
- induced apoptosis
- small cell lung cancer
- cancer therapy
- papillary thyroid
- multidrug resistant
- clinical practice
- drug induced
- cell cycle arrest
- chemotherapy induced
- rheumatoid arthritis
- squamous cell
- radiation therapy
- drug delivery
- cell proliferation
- signaling pathway
- combination therapy