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Volume 42 Issue 2
Feb.  2026
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Article Navigation >  Journal of Clinical Hepatology  > 2026  >  42(2): 457-463

Role of liver cancer stem cells in hepatocellular carcinoma and related strategies for targeted therapy

DOI: 10.12449/JCH260229
  • 1.

    The First Clinical Medical College of Gansu University of Chinese Medicine，Lanzhou 730000，China

  • 2.

    The First Clinical Medical College of Lanzhou University，Lanzhou 730000，China

  • 3.

    Department of Gastroenterology，Gansu Provincial Hospital，Lanzhou 730000，China

Research funding:

National Natural Science Foundation of China (81960107);

National Natural Science Foundation of China (81560093);

Natural Science Foundation of Gansu Province (21JR1RA014)

More Information
  • Corresponding author: MAI Ping， maiping-lz@163.com （ORCID： 0000-0003-2927-8535）
  • Received Date: 2025-05-13
  • Accepted Date: 2025-08-25
  • Published Date: 2026-02-25
    Abstract
  • Hepatocellular carcinoma （HCC） is a malignant tumor with relatively high incidence and mortality rates worldwide， and its therapeutic resistance and recurrence mechanism are closely associated with liver cancer stem cells （LCSC）. This article systematically introduces the biological characteristics of LCSC and their key role in the progression of HCC， reviews the functional characteristics of the specific surface markers （such as EpCAM and CD133） and related signaling pathways （such as Wnt/β-catenin， TGF-β， and STAT3）， elaborates on the interaction between LCSC and tumor microenvironment， and summarizes the latest clinical treatment strategies targeting LCSC and the countermeasure for existing resistance mechanisms. The article points out that LCSC promote tumor development and progression through metabolic reprogramming and immune microenvironment remodeling， and it is proposed to establish a standardized detection system for LCSC specific markers and promote a triple synergistic therapeutic paradigm combining targeted therapy， immune regulation， and traditional chemotherapy， in order to provide new ideas for the clinical intervention of HCC.

     

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