Colorectal cancer stem cells properties and features: evidence of interleukin-8 involvement

Fabiana Conciatori; Chiara Bazzichetto; Italia Falcone; Gianluigi Ferretti; Francesco Cognetti; Michele Milella; Ludovica Ciuffreda

doi:10.20517/cdr.2019.56

Colorectal cancer stem cells properties and features: evidence of interleukin-8 involvement

Cancer Drug Resist. 2019 Dec 19;2(4):968-979. doi: 10.20517/cdr.2019.56. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Fabiana Conciatori¹, Chiara Bazzichetto¹, Italia Falcone¹, Gianluigi Ferretti¹, Francesco Cognetti¹, Michele Milella², Ludovica Ciuffreda^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Medical Oncology 1, IRCCS - Regina Elena National Cancer Institute, Rome 00144, Italy.
² Section of Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Verona School of Medicine and Verona University Hospital Trust, Verona 37126, Italy.
³ SAFU, Department of Research, Advanced Diagnostics, and Technological Innovation, IRCCS - Regina Elena National Cancer Institute, Rome 00144, Italy.

Abstract

Colorectal cancer (CRC) still remains a disease with high percentage of death, principally due to therapy resistance and metastasis. During the time the hypothesis has been reinforced that CRC stem cells (CRCSC) are involved in allowing intratumoral heterogeneity, drug escape mechanisms and secondary tumors. CRCSC are characterized by specific surface markers (i.e., CD44 and CD133), signaling pathways activation (i.e., Wnt and Notch) and gene expression (i.e., Oct4 and Snail), which confer to CRCSC self-renewal abilities and pluripotent capacity. Interleukin (IL)-8 is correlated to CRC progression, development of liver metastases and chemoresistance; moreover, IL-8 modulates not only stemness maintenance but also stemness promotion, such as epithelial-mesenchymal transition. This review wants to give a brief and up-to-date overview on IL-8 implication in CRCSC cues.

Keywords: Interleukin-8; cancer stem cells; colorectal cancer; tumor microenvironment.

Publication types

Review