Targeting BMI1+ Cancer Stem Cells Overcomes Chemoresistance and Inhibits Metastases in Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Publication date: Available online 9 March 2017
Source:Cell Stem Cell
Author(s): Demeng Chen, Mansi Wu, Yang Li, Insoon Chang, Quan Yuan, Mari Ekimyan-Salvo, Peng Deng, Bo Yu, Yongxin Yu, Jiaqiang Dong, John M. Szymanski, Sivakumar Ramadoss, Jiong Li, Cun-Yu Wang
Squamous cell carcinoma in the head and neck (HNSCC) is a common yet poorly understood cancer, with adverse clinical outcomes due to treatment resistance, recurrence, and metastasis. Putative cancer stem cells (CSCs) have been identified in HNSCC, and BMI1 expression has been linked to these phenotypes, but optimal treatment strategies to overcome chemotherapeutic resistance and eliminate metastases have not yet been identified. Here we show through lineage tracing and genetic ablation that BMI1⁺ CSCs mediate invasive growth and cervical lymph node metastasis in a mouse model of HNSCC. This model and primary human HNSCC samples contain highly tumorigenic, invasive, and cisplatin-resistant BMI1⁺ CSCs, which exhibit increased AP-1 activity that drives invasive growth and metastasis of HNSCC. Inhibiting AP-1 or BMI1 sensitized tumors to cisplatin-based chemotherapy, and it eliminated lymph node metastases by targeting CSCs and the tumor bulk, suggesting potential regimens to overcome resistance to treatments and eradicate HNSCC metastasis.

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Teaser

Chen et al. show that BMI1⁺ CSCs drive invasive growth and cervical lymph node metastasis in squamous cell carcinoma. BMI1⁺ CSCs have increased AP-1 activity and are chemotherapy resistant, and combination therapy that targets BMI1⁺ CSCs and the tumor bulk yields better outcomes and effectively eliminates metastasis.


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