Exploring the origin of the cancer stem cell niche and its role in anti-angiogenic treatment for glioblastoma

Funto A Akindona; Stephen C Frederico; John C Hancock; Mark R Gilbert

doi:10.3389/fonc.2022.947634

Exploring the origin of the cancer stem cell niche and its role in anti-angiogenic treatment for glioblastoma

Front Oncol. 2022 Aug 25:12:947634. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2022.947634. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Funto A Akindona¹, Stephen C Frederico^{1

2}, John C Hancock^{1

3

4}, Mark R Gilbert¹

Affiliations

¹ Neuro-Oncology Branch, Center for Cancer Research (CCR), National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States.
² University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.
³ Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
⁴ Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Abstract

Cancer stem cells are thought to be the main drivers of tumorigenesis for malignancies such as glioblastoma (GBM). They are maintained through a close relationship with the tumor vasculature. Previous literature has well-characterized the components and signaling pathways for maintenance of this stem cell niche, but details on how the niche initially forms are limited. This review discusses development of the nonmalignant neural and hematopoietic stem cell niches in order to draw important parallels to the malignant environment. We then discuss what is known about the cancer stem cell niche, its relationship with angiogenesis, and provide a hypothesis for its development in GBM. A better understanding of the mechanisms of development of the tumor stem cell niche may provide new insights to potentially therapeutically exploit.

Keywords: CNS; CSC; GBM; cancer stem cells (CSC); glioblastoma.

Publication types

Review