Fig. 4
From: Regulation and signaling pathways in cancer stem cells: implications for targeted therapy for cancer
CSCs in cancer therapy resistance. CSCs demonstrate greater resistance to cancer therapy compared to regular cancer cells, making them more likely to evade radiotherapy and chemotherapy and increasing the risk of tumor relapse. Several factors contribute to the development of therapy resistance in CSCs. A CSCs can enter a quiescent state when exposed to environmental stress, such as therapy-induced stress, specific molecular stress, and DNA damage stress, enabling them to acquire resistance to radiotherapy and chemotherapy. B The disruption in the balance between ROS production and ROS scavenging in CSCs leads to CSC-related resistance to radiotherapy and chemotherapy. C High ALDH expression in CSCs enhances ROS scavenging and detoxification of toxic aldehydes, leading to multidrug resistance