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

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Stem Cell Biology
• Cancer Research

Background:

• Sarcoma is a rare cancer with low survival rates, often due to late diagnosis and metastasis.
• Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are implicated in sarcoma metastasis and progression.
• Targeting CSCs via stem cell reprogramming offers a promising therapeutic avenue.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review methods for generating sarcoma cancer stem cells (CSCs).
• To identify optimal stem cell reprogramming techniques for producing CSCs crucial for understanding sarcoma.
• To synthesize data on cell sources, gene delivery vectors, and maintenance media for CSC generation.

Main Methods:

• A systematic literature search was performed across PubMed, Wiley Online Library, Scopus, and ScienceDirect.
• Data were extracted and synthesized based on cancer cell types, pluripotent gene delivery vectors, and CSC maintenance media.
• Studies focused on generating sarcoma CSCs through stem cell reprogramming.

Main Results:

• Cell dedifferentiation for CSC generation was found to be independent of the initial cell source.
• Growth factors like bFGF, EGF, and FGF significantly enhanced the formation of CSC spheroids.
• Non-viral vectors were predominantly used for delivering pluripotent gene markers in the reviewed studies.

Conclusions:

• Stem cell reprogramming is a viable strategy for generating sarcoma CSCs.
• Specific growth factors and non-viral vectors are effective in CSC generation.
• Further research into CSC generation methods can inform novel sarcoma treatment strategies.