Table 2.
Cancer stem cell targeting in head and neck cancer
| Therapeutic target | Compound | Mechanism | Model | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nanog | Silencing | Suppresses tumorigenic and CSCs-like abilities | In vitro | [226] |
| Grp78 | Silencing | Inhibits tumor growth and stem cell regulatory proteins i.e., slug and Oct-4 | In vitro | [225] |
| CD44 | Silencing | Decreases migration, EMT, and reduces the expression of snail, vimentin, N-cadherin and slug | In vitro | [232] |
| Inhibiting translation elongation | SVC112 | Increases the progression of cell-cycle slows and delay DNA repair following radiation. Improves colony and sphere formation | In vitro | [233] |
| Let-7d/CDC34 axis | Niclosamide | Induces cell cycle arrest in G1 phase | In vitro, in vivo | [234] |
| 5T4 | MEDI0641 | Decreases the CSC fraction, and tumor regression | In vivo | [235] |
| cMET/FZD8 | PF-2341066 | Decreases tumor initiation, sphere formation, and metastatic spread | In vivo | [236] |
| CD44v6 | Anti-CD44v6 antibody BIWA-IRDye800CW and -Indium-111 | Detection of tumor regions and invasive zones | In vivo | [237] |
| CD44 | Radionuclide186Re-cmAb (U36) | Dose-limiting myelotoxicity, reduction in tumor size | Human | [238] |
| ALDH1 | Alda-89, Aldi-6 | In combination with cisplatin improves apoptosis and decreases tumor growth | In vitro, in vivo | [239] |
| Porcupine (PORCN) (Wnt signaling) | LGK974 | High response in HNSCC with Notch loss of function mutation | In vitro | [240] |
| FGF | BGJ398 | Reduces ALDHhighCD44high, sensitization to cisplatin | In vitro | [241] |
| Bmi1/AP-1 | PTC-209 | Cisplatin plus PTC-209 potently eradicates Bmi1 + CSCs and suppresses progression of tumor | In vitro | [209] |