胃腸および消化器系

抽象的な

Immunotherapy Targeting Cancer Stem Cells of Human Colorectal Cancer

Tadashi Ogawa, Yoshihiko Hirohashi, Toshihiko Torigoe, Noriyuki Sato and Koichi Hirata

Colorectal cancer is one of the most common malignancies worldwide. Despite improvements in surgical therapy and chemotherapy, the overall survival rate of patients with recurrence or metastatic cancer has not improved significantly in the past several decades. Treatment resistance makes the disease incontrollable, and recent basic research has revealed that cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) or cancer-initiating cells (CICs) are involved in treatment resistance. Therefore, eradicating CSCs/CICs is a key approach to improve colorectal cancer treatment. Cancer immunotherapy is expected to become the fourth cancer treatment option, and several studies have shown that CSCs/CICs can be targeted by immunotherapy. In this review article, we summarize the potency of immunotherapy as CSC/CIC-targeting therapy and the future perspectives of CSC/CIC-targeting immunotherapy.