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Review Article

Functionalised nanomaterials for eradication of CSCs, a promising approach for overcoming tumour heterogeneity

, , , &
Pages 649-657 | Received 17 Jun 2017, Accepted 12 Nov 2017, Published online: 23 Nov 2017
 

Abstract

Today, intratumoural heterogeneity has been recognised as one of the main causes of cancer treatment failure and drug resistance development through which multiple mechanisms are simultaneously involved. From the broad diversity of cells presented in tumour microenvironment, owing to their proliferative potential and longevity, cancer stem cells (CSCs), are the main cell subpopulation involved in tumour development, propagation, metastatic dissemination and induction of intratumoural heterogeneity. Accordingly, selective targeting and eradication of CSCs may represent a promising approach for cancer therapy and evading drug resistance development. Nanotechnology is an attractive outgrowing field in medicine due to its promising capabilities in solving several obstacles associated with conventional chemotherapy agents including poor solubility, lack of selectivity and high systemic toxicity. Accordingly, multiple types of nanocarriers have been successfully developed for improving selective delivery and reducing non-selective toxicities of CSC-specific chemotherapy agents. In Current review, we mostly focus on examining the role of CSCs in development of intratumoral heterogeneity and introducing recently developed nano delivery systems for more efficient targeting and eradication of them.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

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