Role of tumor microenvironment in cancer stem cells resistance to radiotherapy

Official URL: https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1568009622666211224154952

Cancer is a chronic disorder that involves several elements of both the tumor and the host stromal cells. At present, the complex relationship between the various factors presents in the tumor microenvironment (TME) and tumor cells, as well as immune cells located within the TME, is still poorly known. Within the TME, the crosstalk of these factors and immune cells essentially determines how a tumor reacts to the treatment and how the tumor can ultimately be destroyed, re-main dormant, or develop and metastasize. Also, in TME, reciprocal crosstalk between cancer-asso-ciated fibroblasts (CAFs), extracellular matrix (ECM), hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) intensifies the proliferation capacity of cancer stem cells (CSCs). CSCs are a subpopulation of cells that reside within the tumor bulk and have the capacity to self-renew, differentiate, and repair DNA damage. These characteristics make CSCs develop resistance to a variety of treatments, such as radiotherapy (RT). RT is a frequent and often curative treatment for local cancer which mediates tumor elimi-nation by cytotoxic actions. Also, cytokines and growth factors that are released into TME have been involved in the activation of tumor radioresistance and the induction of different immune cells, altering local immune responses. In this review, we discuss the pivotal role of TME in the resistance of CSCs to RT.