Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Diagnosis of lung cancer in an early stage is still a challenge due to the asymptomatic course of early stages of the disease and the lack of a standard screening program for the population. Nowadays, learning about the mechanisms that lead to cancerogenesis in the lung is crucial for the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. Recently, many studies have proved that cancer stem cells (CSCs) are responsible for the initiation, progression, metastasis, recurrence, and even resistance of chemo- and radiotherapeutic treatment in patients with lung cancer. The expression of pluripotency transcription factors is responsible for stemness properties. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge on the role of CSCs and pluripotency transcription factors in lung carcinogenesis.
Keywords: Bmi1; Cancer stem cells; KLF4; LIN28; Lung cancer; Nanog; Oct-4; SOX2; c-Myc.