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    Stem cells : nature.com subject feeds

    Regulating the dormancy of cancer stem cells: a novel approach to preventing cancer relapse

    April 04, 2026
    All Feeds / Stem cells : nature.com subject feeds / Regulating the dormancy of cancer stem cells: a novel approach to preventing cancer relapse
    April 04, 2026 Stem cells : nature.com subject feeds
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    Subjects

    • Cancer stem cells
    • Quiescence

    Abstract

    Dormant cancer stem cells (CSCs) are the root cause of the drug resistance and metastatic processes of malignant tumors, but an in-depth analysis of their biological mechanisms is needed. Dormant CSCs are in the G0 phase of the cell cycle and are characterized by enhanced autophagic activity, a stable genomic structure and strong plasticity. Recently, several new specific markers of dormant CSCs, such as p27, CD13, QSOX1, Survivin, GPD1 and BEX2, have been identified, which offer hope for targeted therapy. In addition, epigenetic modifications such as DNA methylation and histone modifications have been reported to regulate the transition between the quiescent and proliferative states of dormant CSCs. From a clinical perspective, keeping cancer stem cells in a dormant state is helpful for preventing tumor recurrence and metastasis. To this end, clarifying the potential mechanisms and molecular regulation of cancer stem cell dormancy is vital. Here, in this review, we examine recent significant findings regarding tumor stem cell dormancy in both experimental and human disease models, emphasizing the underlying molecular mechanisms, regulatory processes, experimental models, and prospective research directions aimed at advancing this field and enhancing clinical translation.

    Data availability

    Data sharing is not applicable in this article as no new data was created or analyzed in this study.

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    Acknowledgements

    The figures in this article are drawn by Figdraw. We thank Ms. Jie Chen for her help in designing figures.

    Funding

    This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 82573716, 82303944 and 82400694), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2023M731557), Innovation Project of Tangdu Hospital (2025YFJH014) and Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (2025A1515012583).

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    1. These authors contributed equally: Qian Wang, Ning Liang, Xiongchao Fang, Tao Yang.

    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Department of General Surgery, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, China

      Qian Wang, Xiongchao Fang, Xianli He, Gang Wang & Nan Wang

    2. Department of Gastroenterology, 920th Hospital of the Joint Logistics Support Force, PLA, Kunming, China

      Ning Liang

    3. Department of Interventional Radiology, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, China

      Tao Yang

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    Contributions

    WQ wrote the manuscript. LN and FXC contributed to the software processing. WN, HXL and WG participated in the conception and design of the study. WQ, YT, WN, HXL and WG revised the manuscript.

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    Wang, Q., Liang, N., Fang, X. et al. Regulating the dormancy of cancer stem cells: a novel approach to preventing cancer relapse. Cell Death Dis (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41419-026-08707-z

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    • Received: 08 August 2025

    • Revised: 01 March 2026

    • Accepted: 24 March 2026

    • Published: 04 April 2026

    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41419-026-08707-z

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