Cancer Stem Cells and Signaling Pathways

Abstract

It has been recently described that tumors are formed by heterogeneous subpopulations. These populations include cancer stem cells or CSC, which have the potential to generate new tumors, which is why they have been associated with therapeutic resistance to cancer. There exist different stem cells, embryonic and adult and cancer stem cells, where signaling pathways are present; Wnt, Notch, Hh and GF pathways are activated for their cellular needs. When activating the signaling in a natural state, the ligand-receptors and various molecules in a chain reaction reach the nucleus and cause the transcription of different genes; this is related to cell proliferation, differentiation, death, movement or morphogenesis, among other processes. In other cases, if the signaling is dysregulated, it can damage health and create a pathology, such as cancer or degenerative diseases. This paper explains how carcinogenicity is caused by the dysregulation of these signaling pathways, in particular, promoting the survival of CSC. There are several strategies to tackle cancer. Signaling pathways networking need to be studied in each tumor to design treatments that are more specific.