Phytochemicals which inhibit cancer stem cells may prove to be promising agents for the prevention and treatment of pancreatic cancers. - GreenMedInfo Summary
Targeting cancer stem cells for chemoprevention of pancreatic cancer.
Curr Med Chem. 2017 Jan 26. Epub 2017 Jan 26. PMID: 28137215
Dharmalingam Subramaniam
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is one of the deadliest cancers worldwide and the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths in United States. Regardless of the advances in molecular pathogenesis and consequential efforts to suppress the disease, this cancer remains a major health problem in United States. By 2030, the projection is that pancreatic cancer will be climb up to be the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. Pancreatic cancer is a rapidly invasive and highly metastatic cancer, and does not respond to standard therapies. Emerging evidence support that the presence of a unique population of cells called cancer stem cells (CSCs) as potential cancer inducing cells and efforts are underway to develop therapeutic strategies targeting these cells. CSCs are rare quiescent cells, and has the capacity to self-renew through asymmetric/symmetric cell division, as well as differentate into various lineages of cells in the cancer. Studies have been shown that CSCs are highly resistant to standard therapy and also responsible for drug resistance, cancer recurrence and metastasis. To overcome of this problem, we need novel preventive agents that target these CSCs. Natural compounds or phytochemicals have ability to target for these CSCs and their signaling pathways. Therefore, in the present review article, we summarize our current understanding of pancreatic CSCs and their signaling pathways, and the phytochemicals that target these cells including curcumin, resveratrol, tea polyphenol EGCG (epigallocatechin-3-gallate), crocetinic acid, sulforaphane, genistein, indole-3-carbinol, vitamin Eδ-tocotrienol, Plumbagin, quercetin, triptolide, Licofelene and Quinomycin. These natural compounds or phytochemicals, which inhibit cancer stem cells may prove to be promising agents for the prevention and treatment of pancreatic cancers.