Role of Stem Cells in Cancer Therapeutics

Abstract

Stem cells are pluripotent cells having capacity of self-renewal and produce various types of mature cells. Cancer stem cells are known to be responsible for drug resistance and tumor relapse, yet stem cells offer multiple avenues to treat same. Stem cells have been employed for treating of blood and immune systems damaged during chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Stem cell transplantation is emerged as critical therapy in cancer treatment, yet other potential applications of stem cells in cancer treatment are largely unexplored or underutilized. Recently, stem cells reengineered express different cytotoxic agents. It has shown to cause tumor regression and enhance the animal survival in preclinical studies. Stem cell therapy can be also employed for targeted drug delivery, gene delivery, and even used as virus to target cancer cell. In recent years, research is devoted on stem cells worldwide for new and newer application. Although the field of stem cells is nascent and raises many ethical concerns, scientific responsibilities, and future challenges, scientific community are still hopeful and filled with optimism. Currently, stem cell therapy represents the beginning of the new era in cancer treatment and giving a ray of hope to clinicians and also patients who are suffering from untreatable diseases and desperately looking for new therapies. In the present chapter, the authors mainly shed light on potential applications of stem cells to treat cancer. At the end, they also discussed the factor influencing stem cell therapies and current challenges in stem cell therapy.