Molecular markers and mechanisms for stemness maintenance of liver cancer stem cells: a review.

Nan Zhang; Suhang Bai; Fuhan Zhang; Mengran Shi; Luyao Wang; Lei Wang; Lida XU; Zhao Yang; Changyuan YU

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Molecular markers and mechanisms for stemness maintenance of liver cancer stem cells: a review.

Author: Nan ZHANG ¹ ; Suhang BAI ¹ ; Fuhan ZHANG ¹ ; Mengran SHI ¹ ; Luyao WANG ¹ ; Lei WANG ¹ ; Lida XU ¹ ; Zhao YANG ¹ ; Changyuan YU ¹
Author Information

1. College of Life Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China.
Publication Type:Review
Keywords: liver cancer stem cells; mechanisms for stemness maintenance; molecular markers; targeted therapy
MeSH: Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/genetics*; Humans; Liver Neoplasms/genetics*; Neoplastic Stem Cells; Prognosis
From: Chinese Journal of Biotechnology 2021;37(8):2719-2736
CountryChina
Language:Chinese
Abstract: Primary liver cancer (PLC) is an aggressive tumor and prone to metastasize and recur. According to pathological features, PLC are mainly categorized into hepatocellular carcinoma, intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, mixed hepatocellular cholangiocarcinoma, and fibrolamelic hepatocellular carcinoma, etc. At present, surgical resection, radiotherapy and chemotherapy are still the main treatments for PLC, but the specificities are poor and the clinical effects are limited with a 5-year overall survival rate of 18%. Liver cancer stem cells (LCSCs) are a specific cell subset existing in liver cancer tissues. They harbor the capabilities of self-renewal and strong tumorigenicity, driving tumor initiation, metastasis, drug resistance and recurrence of PLC. Therefore, the identification of molecular markers and the illustration of mechanisms for stemness maintenance of LCSCs can not only reveal the molecular mechanisms of PLC tumorigenesis, but also lay a theoretical foundation for the molecular classification, prognosis evaluation and targeted therapy of PLC. The latest research showed that the combination of 5-fluorouracil and CD13 inhibitors could inhibit the proliferation of CD13+ LCSCs, thereby reducing overall tumor burden. Taken together, LCSCs could be the promising therapeutic targets of PLC in the future. This review summarizes the latest progress in molecular markers, mechanisms for stemness maintenance and targeted therapies of LCSCs.