scholarly journals Prognostic value of cancer stem cells, epithelial-mesenchymal transition and circulating tumor cells in lung cancer

2013 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 1763-1768 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. PIROZZI ◽  
V. TIRINO ◽  
R. CAMERLINGO ◽  
A. LA ROCCA ◽  
N. MARTUCCI ◽  
...  
Tumor Biology ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 101042831769591 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheefa Mirza ◽  
Nayan Jain ◽  
Rakesh Rawal

Lung cancer stem cells are supposed to be the main drivers of tumor initiation, maintenance, drug resistance, and relapse of the disease. Hence, identification of the cellular and molecular aspects of these cells is a prerequisite for targeted therapy of lung cancer. Currently, analysis of circulating tumor cells has the potential to become the main diagnostic technique to monitor disease progression or therapeutic response as it is non-invasive. However, accurate detection of circulating tumor cells has remained a challenge, as epithelial cell markers used so far are not always trustworthy for detecting circulating tumor cells, especially during epithelial–mesenchymal transition. As cancer stem cells are the only culprit to initiate metastatic tumors, our aim was to isolate and characterize circulating tumor stem cells rather than circulating tumor cells from the peripheral blood of NSCLC adenocarcinoma as limited data are available addressing the gene expression profiling of lung cancer stem cells. Here, we reveal that CD44(+)/CD24(−) population in circulation not only exhibit stem cell–related genes but also possess epithelial–mesenchymal transition characteristics. In conclusion, the use of one or more cancer stem cell markers along with epithelial, mesenchymal and epithelial mesenchymal transition markers will prospectively provide the most precise assessment of the threat for recurrence and metastatic disease and has a great potential for forthcoming applications in harvesting circulating tumor stem cells and their downstream applications. Our results will aid in developing diagnostic and prognostic modalities and personalized treatment regimens like dendritic cell–based immunotherapy that can be utilized for targeting and eliminating circulating tumor stem cells, to significantly reduce the possibility of relapse and improve clinical outcomes.


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 153303382092124
Author(s):  
Bin Yang ◽  
Wei Zhang ◽  
Mengmeng Zhang ◽  
Xuhong Wang ◽  
Shengzu Peng ◽  
...  

Aim: Keratin 6A is a type II cytokeratin which is important in forming nail bed, filiform papillae, the epithelial lining of oral mucosa, and esophagus; recently, keratin 6A was found hyperexpressed in different types of cancer. But, the biological function of keratin 6A in lung adenocarcinoma still remains unclear. Therefore, in current study, we investigated the biological role of keratin 6A in lung adenocarcinoma. Methods: By utilizing The Cancer Genome Atlas database, we investigated the expression profile of keratin 6A and its relationship with other clinical parameters in lung adenocarcinoma. The biological function of keratin 6A in lung adenocarcinoma was also investigated by using A549 and PC-9 lung cancer cell lines in vitro. Results: Our data indicate that, compared with normal lung tissue samples, keratin 6A was hyperexpressed in lung adenocarcinoma. Moreover, keratin 6A hyperexpression was positively correlated with lymph node positive and aggressive tumor T stage. Keratin 6A knockdown inhibited the cell proliferation, migration, and colony formation ability but not cell death in lung adenocarcinoma cells. In addition, we found keratin 6A exerted its phenotype via promoting cancer stem cells (CXCR4high/CD133high) transformation and epithelial–mesenchymal transition. Conclusion: In conclusion, current study suggests that hyperexpressed keratin 6A in lung adenocarcinoma promotes lung cancer proliferation and metastasis via epithelial–mesenchymal transition and cancer stem cells transformation.


2017 ◽  
Vol 72 (6) ◽  
pp. 450-457 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. V. Kaigorodova

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) constitute a heterogeneous population. Some tumor cells are cancer stem cells (CSCs), while others are in the process of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT); however, most CTCs are neither stem cells nor participants in the EMT. There is increasing interest in the study of the molecular biological characteristics of CTCs. Many researchers consider circulating tumor cells (CTC) as one of the variants of «liquid biopsy in real time». In this review, we discuss the clinical significance of CTCs in breast cancer and in particular the prognostic and predictive significance both in early stage and metastatic breast cancer, as well as the pathogenetic role of CTCs in venous thromboembolism. Evaluation of various characteristics of CTCs is promising for the study of new biomarkers and targets for targeted therapies. The clinical importance involves the determination of the heterogeneity of the CТC and in particular of the stem subpopulation of these cells, cells with signs of EMТ, with no evidence of stem cells, and with a combination of these features.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document