Cancer stem cells (CSCs) contribute to the initiation, recurrence, and metastasis of cancer; however, there are still no drugs targeting CSCs in clinical application. There are several signaling pathways playing critical roles in CSC progression, such as the Wnt, Hedgehog, Notch, Hippo, and autophagy signaling pathways. Additionally, targeting the ferroptosis signaling pathway was recently shown to specifically kill CSCs. Therefore, targeting these pathways may suppress CSC progression. The structure of small-molecule drugs shows a good spatial dispersion, and its chemical properties determine its good druggability and pharmacokinetic properties. These characteristics make small-molecule drugs show a great advantage in drug development, which is increasingly popular in the market. Thus, in this review, we will summarize the current researches on the small-molecule compounds suppressing CSC progression, including inhibitors of Wnt, Notch, Hedgehog, and autophagy pathways, and activators of Hippo and ferroptosis pathways. These small-molecule compounds emphasize CSC importance in tumor progression and propose a new strategy to treat cancer in clinic via targeting CSCs.
Emerging agents that target signaling pathways in cancer stem cells
Yue Yang,Xiaoman Li,Ting Wang,Qianqian Guo,Tao Xi,Lufeng Zheng
Published 2020 in Journal of Hematology & Oncology
ABSTRACT
PUBLICATION RECORD
- Publication year
2020
- Venue
Journal of Hematology & Oncology
- Publication date
2020-05-26
- Fields of study
Biology, Medicine
- Identifiers
- External record
- Source metadata
Semantic Scholar, PubMed
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