Radiation resistance of cancer stem cells as an obstacle in cancer therapy

Sh Faisal 14.00 Radiation represents an important therapeutic intervention in many tumor types. Nevertheless, tumor recurrence continues to post major limitation to this type of therapy. Wealth of data suggests that there is a distinct population of cancer cells with exclusive ability to self-renew, termed cancer stem cells (CSCs). This subset of cancer cells has been shown to be resistant to conventional therapy, including chemotherapy and radiation. Failure to eradicate CSCs may result in tumor recurrence. This review article summarized the characteristic and identification of CSCs along with mechanisms of resistance in these cells including increased DNA repair. Understanding the mechanisms underlying radioresistance of CSCs will lead to better combination therapies to overcome resistance of these cells which will ultimately improve outcome for radiation treatment. Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}