Resumen

VELASCO VELAZQUEZ, Marco A  y  DE LA FUENTE GRANADA, Marisol. Papel de las células madre oncogénicas en la resistencia terapéutica de tumores de mama. Rev. venez. oncol. [online]. 2009, vol.21, n.3, pp.174-182. ISSN 0798-0582.

The cancer stem cells are a subpopulation of tumor cells that display self renewal capability and generate heterogeneous tumors when injected into a experimentation animals. Recent studies have shown that stem cancer cells play a key role in the tumor development, progression, and treatment sensitivity, making cancer stem cells are very promising targets for the development of a new therapies for cancer. In the case of breast cancer, stem cells were discovered in year 2003. Since they identification, different studies have characterized the cell activities that distinguish this population. Now it is well known that breast cancer stem cells are more resistant to chemotherapy than the rest of the breast cancer cells. Given that cancer stem cells survive the treatment, they may be capable to repopulate the tumor, causing relapse. The present paper aims to summarize the recent evidence that indicates that changes in the expression of membrane transporters as well as alterations in various signaling pathways are involved in the generation of resistance in breast cancer stem cells. In addition, this review discusses the possible strategies to overcome drug resistance and to achieve the eradication of the cancer stem cells. These strategies may become the basis for the development of new therapies that block relapse in breast cancer.

Palabras clave : Cancer; stem cell; oncogenes; therapeutic resistance; breast cancer; chemotherapy.