Abstract:

BACKGROUND: In recent years, studies have shown that colon cancer stem cells are involved in tumor recurrence and metastasis, which have brought a new hope for cancer targeted therapy.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the isolation and identification method of colon cancer stem cell surface markers as well as relevant signal transduction pathways.
METHODS: A computer-based search of Medline and CNKI databases (2000-01/2011-06) was performed to retrieve colon cancer stem cell surface markers and signal transduction using the keywords of “colon cancer stem cell, cancer stem cell, cell surface sign, signal transduction” in English and Chinese, respectively. Repetitive articles or Meta analyses were excluded, and finally 40 articles were included in result analysis.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: CD133⁺ and CD44⁺ are used as colon cancer stem cell surface markers. Closely related to colon cancer stem cells, Wnt signaling pathway plays an important role in stem cell homeostasis, and Notch signaling pathway is a major stem cell signaling pathway. Based on studies of colon cancer stem cell surface markers, the early presence of the tumor can be detected; to grasp the biological characteristics of colon cancer stem cells and signal transduction pathway can reduce tumor recurrence, and reduce the difficulty in diagnosis and treatment of colon cancer.