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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Stem Cells. Jun 26, 2023; 15(6): 514-529
Published online Jun 26, 2023. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v15.i6.514
Advances of nanotechnology applied to cancer stem cells
Miao Yue, Ting Guo, Deng-Yun Nie, Yin-Xing Zhu, Mei Lin
Miao Yue, Deng-Yun Nie, Clinical Laboratory, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Taizhou 225300, Jiangsu Province, China
Ting Guo, Yin-Xing Zhu, Mei Lin, Taizhou School of Clinical Medicine, The Affiliated Taizhou People's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Taizhou 225300, Jiangsu Province, China
Author contributions: Yue M wrote the original draft of the manuscript; Guo T and Nie DY drew the charts; Zhu YX wrote and edited the final paper; Lin M was responsible for the overall direction of the paper and for editing of the manuscript.
Supported by Natural Science Foundation of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine China, No. XZR2020093.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Mei Lin, MD, PhD, Senior Scientist, Taizhou School of Clinical Medicine, The Affiliated Taizhou People’s Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, No. 366 Taihu Road, Taizhou 225300, Jiangsu Province, China. l_mei@163.com
Received: December 28, 2022
Peer-review started: December 28, 2022
First decision: February 14, 2023
Revised: March 1, 2023
Accepted: April 18, 2023
Article in press: April 18, 2023
Published online: June 26, 2023
Processing time: 179 Days and 23.9 Hours
Abstract

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a small proportion of the cells that exist in cancer tissues. They are considered to be the culprit of tumor genesis, development, drug resistance, metastasis and recurrence because of their self-renewal, proliferation, and differentiation potential. The elimination of CSCs is thus the key to cure cancer, and targeting CSCs provides a new method for tumor treatment. Due to the advantages of controlled sustained release, targeting and high biocompatibility, a variety of nanomaterials are used in the diagnosis and treatments targeting CSCs and promote the recognition and removal of tumor cells and CSCs. This article mainly reviews the research progress of nanotechnology in sorting CSCs and nanodrug delivery systems targeting CSCs. Furthermore, we identify the problems and future research directions of nanotechnology in CSC therapy. We hope that this review will provide guidance for the design of nanotechnology as a drug carrier so that it can be used in clinic for cancer therapy as soon as possible.

Keywords: Cancer stem cells; Nanotechnology; Nanoparticles; Nanodrug delivery systems; Drug resistance; Therapy

Core Tip: Cancer stem cells (CSCs) have the potential to self-renew, proliferate, and differentiate. CSCs play a key role in the occurrence, development, recurrence, and metastasis of tumors. Due to the good compatibility and biodegradability of nanomaterials, they are applied to target CSCs for drug delivery, photothermal therapy, and magnetic hyperthermia to treat cancer.