Cancer Stem Cells in Therapy Resistance of Colorectal Cancer

Abstract

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death worldwide, and therapy resistance is one of the most common reasons for treatment failure in CRC. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a minor subpopulation of tumor cells with the capacity of self-renewal and differentiation, which play an important role in the progression, recurrence, and therapy resistance of cancer. Recent studies have shown that CSCs induce cancer resistance to conventional treatments through a variety of mechanisms, including targeting signaling pathways, regulating level of microRNAs, DNA damage repair, maintaining low levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and maintaining a relatively quiescent state. Therefore, therapeutic strategies targeting CSCs may be able to reverse therapy resistance of CRC, but the lack of specific CSC markers also confuses this therapeutic strategy. In this chapter, we will discuss the effect of CSCs on CRC therapy resistance and its potential mechanism, the current research progress of the strategy of targeting CSCs, and their existing problems in order to provide a reference for the selection of therapeutic strategies for CRC.KeywordsColorectal cancerCancer stem cellsTherapy resistanceSignaling pathwaysMicroRNADNA damageReactive oxygen species