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Updated: May 3, 2026

Radiosensitivity of Cancer Stem Cells in Lung Cancer Cell Lines
Published on: August 21, 2019
Cancer stem cells and radioresistance
1Department of Molecular Carcinogenesis, the University of Texas M.D Anderson Cancer Center , Smithville, Texas , USA.
Purpose:
Radiation therapy has made significant contributions to cancer treatment. However, despite continuous improvements, tumor recurrence and therapy resistance still occur in a high proportion of patients. One underlying reason for this radioresistance might be attributable to the presence of cancer stem cells (CSC). The purpose of this review is to discuss CSC-specific mechanisms that confer radiation resistance.
Conclusions:
We focus our discussions on breast cancer and glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) and conclude that both CSC-intrinsic and CSC-extrinsic factors as well as adaptive responses in CSC caused by irradiation and microenvironmental changes all make contributions to CSC-mediated radioresistance. Our discussions emphasize CSC as novel therapeutic targets in order to potentiate radiotherapy efficacy.
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