Cancer progression to metastatic stages is still unmanageable and the promise of effective anti-metastatic therapy remains largely unmet, emphasizing the need to develop novel therapeutics. The special focus here is on cancer stem cells (CSC) as the seed of tumor initiation, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, chemoresistance and, as a consequence, drivers of metastatic dissemination. We report on targeted therapies gearing towards the CSC's internal and membrane-anchored markers using agents such as antibody derivatives, nucleic therapeutics, small molecules and genetic payloads. Another emphasis lies on novel proceedings envisaged to deliver current and prospective therapies to the target sites using newest viral and non-viral vector technologies. In this review, we summarize recent progress and remaining challenges in therapeutic strategies to combat CSC.

癌症发展到转移阶段仍然难以控制，有效的抗转移疗法的前景仍未实现，从而强调了开发新疗法的必要性。这里特别关注的是癌干细胞（CSC），它是肿瘤起始，上皮-间质转化，化学抗性的种子，并因此是转移扩散的驱动力。我们使用抗体衍生物，核酸治疗剂，小分子和遗传有效载荷等药物，针对针对CSC内部和膜锚定标记的靶向疗法进行了报道。另一个重点在于设想使用最新的病毒和非病毒载体技术向靶位点提供当前和预期治疗的新颖方法。在这篇评论中，