Recent trend on sarcoma stem cell reprogramming towards study of disease progression: A systematic review

Sarcoma refers to a broad type of cancer characterised by the abnormal growth of cells in connective tissues, bone, muscle, and cartilage. Although relatively rare, the survival rate of sarcoma patients is low primarily due to delayed diagnosis or metastasis at first presentation. Highly metastatic sarcoma has been suggested to be attributable to the presence of cancer stem cells (CSCs). Although a minor cell population, the stemness property renders CSCs stem cell-like characteristics. Nevertheless, CSCs presented a promising target towards advances in sarcoma therapy, particularly through stem cell reprogramming. Thus, this systematic review aims to gather existing studies on the methods of stem cell reprogramming that best produce sarcoma cancer stem cells (CSCs), which are crucial for understanding disease progression. An extensive literature search was conducted across four databases: PubMed, Wiley Online Library, Scopus, and ScienceDirect. The data obtained were synthesized and reported according to the following variables: types of cancer cells used for cancer stem cell generation, vector used for delivery of pluripotent genes, and CSCs maintenance medium. This systematic review demonstrated that cell dedifferentiation was independent of the cell sources. Furthermore, the addition of growth factors such as bFGF, EGF, or FGF significantly enhanced the formation of CSCs' spheroids. Most of the studies included in the review utilized a non-viral vector for the delivery of pluripotent gene markers into the cells.