Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Recent investigations show that there are a small part of self-renewing and multi-potent cells named as tumor stem cells. Those cells share many characteristics with somatic and embryonic stem cells and are thought to be responsible for driving tumor progression in growing list of neoplastic diseases. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is an important angiogenesis factor, which can regulate endothelial proliferation, angiogenesis, permeability of blood vessel, and thrombogenesis.
OBJECTIVE: To summarize the progress of cancer stem cells and tumor angiogenesis.
METHODS: A computer-based online search was conducted in PUMMED, CNKI, and Wanfang databases with the key words of “cancer stem cells, vascular endothelial growth factor, new vascularize” in both Chinese and English from January 2000 to October 2009.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Among 153 articles, there were 13 in Chinese and 140 in English. Titles and abstracts were preliminarily screened, and articles which were non-relative (n=35), duplicated (n =30), and Meta analysis (n =57), were excluded. A total of 31 articles were included in the final analysis. Angiogenesis regulated by multiple factors was a necessary link for tumor growth and transferring. Stem cells promoted angiogenesis, thereby promoted tumor growth and transferring. However, the modified stem cells caused the opposite effects. On the other hand, the stem cells were considered as a substance vector to localize tumor focus, in particular, it will be potential for looking for subclinical focus and distal focus.