RESUMO
Cancer stem cells (CSC) are capable of self-renewal and can proliferate into a heterogeneous bulk with cancer progeny population, which is the main reason for recurrence and metastasis of cancer. Metastatic cancer stem cells (MCSC) have the properties of CSC and the ability of metastasis. Metastasis happens at both the late and early stages of tumorigenesis. MCSC are different from CSC in origin, epithelial-mesenehyrnal transition (EMT), mesenehymal-epithelial transition (MET), and microenvironment of target organs (niche), etc. Therefore, MCSC is the foundation of cancer metastasis. Anti-metastasis strategies include killing CSC, blocking EMT and MET of CSC, inhibiting MCSC adhesion to microvessels, and destroying MCSC dependent-niche. This review introduces the possible sources, biological features of MCSC, the possible breakthrough in MCSC research, and MCSC-targeted anti-metastasis strategy, hoping to provide reference for researches about tumor metastasis mechanisms and anti-metastasis strategies.