CD117/c-kit in Cancer Stem Cell-Mediated Progression and Therapeutic Resistance

CD117/c-kit in Cancer Stem Cell-Mediated Progression and Therapeutic Resistance

Blog Article

Metastasis is the primary cause of cancer patient morbidity and mortality, but due to persisting gaps in our knowledge, it remains untreatable.Metastases neflintw-r6mpw often occur as patient tumors progress or recur after initial therapy.Tumor recurrence at the primary site may be driven by a cancer stem-like cell or tumor progenitor cell, while recurrence at a secondary site is driven by metastatic cancer stem cells or metastasis-initiating cells.

Ongoing efforts are aimed at identifying and characterizing these stem-like cells driving recurrence and metastasis.One potential marker for the cancer stem-like cell subpopulation is CD117/c-kit, click here a tyrosine kinase receptor associated with cancer progression and normal stem cell maintenance.Further, activation of CD117 by its ligand stem cell factor (SCF; kit ligand) in the progenitor cell niche stimulates several signaling pathways driving proliferation, survival, and migration.

This review examines evidence that the SCF/CD117 signaling axis may contribute to the control of cancer progression through the regulation of stemness and resistance to tyrosine kinase inhibitors.