Cancer stem cell molecular markers verified in vivo

Abstract

This systematic review was aimed at identification of cancer stem cells (CSC) molecular markers, which was validated in experiments on transplantation of tumor subpopulations with different phenotypes to immunodeficient animals. After careful examination of available papers, we selected 97 reports, fully consistent with the objectives of the study. The results of their analysis show that markers commonly used for CSC isolation include: CD133, СD44, ALDH, CD34, CD24, and EpCAM. The review also contains description of molecular features of some CSC markers; it also considers modern approaches to cancer treatment by targeting this population and evaluates perspectives of further development of the CSC theory.