The role of long non-coding RNAs in radiation tolerance of cancer stem cells / 中华放射肿瘤学杂志

ABSTRACT

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) refer to a kind of cells with self-renewal ability and multi-directional differentiation potential inside the tumor. Although only occupying a small part of the whole cancer cells, they are the " original cells" that cause tumorigenesis, spread and recurrence, which is also the root cause of radiotherapy failure. CSCs are virtually resistant to radiotherapy and promote tumor metastasis either in a direct or indirect manner, which are therefore believed to serve as the basis of tumor metastasis. Moreover, the heterogeneity of CSCs may be responsible for the complexity of organ-specific metastasis. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a class of RNA molecules with over 200 nucleotides in length without protein coding potential, which are involved in the initiation and progression of several cancer types and closely related to the radiation tolerance. Recently, lncRNAs related to tumor radiation tolerance and its relationship with CSCs have attracted widespread attention. In this review, lncRNA-mediated regulation of CSCs following radiotherapy and the role of lncRNA in radiation tolerance were summarized.