Targeting cancer stem cells in drug discovery: Current state and future perspectives

Abstract

In recent decades, cancer stem cells (CSCs) have been increasingly identified in many malignancies. CSC-related signaling pathways and their functions provide new strategies for treating cancer. The aberrant activation of related signaling pathways (e.g., Wnt, Notch, and Hedgehog pathways) has been linked to multiple types of malignant tumors, which makes these pathways attractive targets for cancer therapy. CSCs display many characteristic features, such as self-renewal, differentiation, high tumorigenicity, and drug resistance. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop new therapeutic strategies to target these pathways to control stem cell replication, survival, and differentiation. Notable crosstalk occurs among different signaling pathways and potentially leads to compensatory escape. Therefore, multitarget inhibitors will be one of the main methods to overcome the drug resistance of CSCs. Many small molecule inhibitors of components of signaling pathways in CSCs have entered clinical trials, and some inhibitors, such as vismodegib, sonidegib, and glasdegib, have been approved. Tumor cells are susceptible to sonidegib and vismodegib resistance due to mutations in the Smo protein. The signal transducers and activators of transcription 3 (STAT3) inhibitor BBI608 is being evaluated in a phase III trial for a variety of cancers. Structural derivatives of BBI608 are the main focus of STAT3 inhibitor development, which is another strategy for CSC therapy. In addition to the potential pharmacological inhibitors targeting CSC-related signaling pathways, other methods of targeting CSCs are available, such as nano-drug delivery systems, mitochondrion targeting, autophagy, hyperthermia, immunotherapy, and CSC microenvironment targeting. In addition, we summarize the latest advances in the clinical development of agents targeting CSC-related signaling pathways and other methods of targeting CSCs.

Keywords: Cancer stem cells, Cancer stem cell-related signaling pathways, Nano-drug delivery system, Immunotherapy, Mitochondrion, Immunotherapy, Cancer stem cell microenvironment

Core tip: The review aims to introduce the field of cancer stem cells (CSCs) and the important signaling pathways in CSCs and present approved inhibitors as well as candidate drugs. Due to the complexity of the crosstalk among various signaling pathways, current strategies involve the development of multitarget inhibitors, combination therapy, and precision treatments based on the genetic characteristics of patients. Other methods of targeting CSCs are introduced as well, including nano-drug delivery systems, mitochondrion targeting, hyperthermia, immunotherapy, and CSC microenvironment targeting. However, this field remains in its infancy, and considerable research will be required to produce mature products that can contribute to curing cancer.