Antibody targeting of cancer is showing clinical and commercial success after much intense research and development over the last 30 years. They still have the potential to delivery long-term cures but a shift in thinking towards a cancer stem cell (CSC) model for tumour development is certain to impact on how antibodies are selected and developed, the targets they bind to and the drugs used in combination with them. CSCs have been identified from many human tumours and share many of the characteristics of normal stem cells. The ability to renew, metabolically or physically protect themselves from xenobiotics and DNA damage and the range of locomotory-related receptors expressed could explain the observations of drug resistance and radiation insensitivity leading to metastasis and patient relapse.

Targeting CSCs could be a strategy to improve the outcome of cancer therapy but this is not as simple as it seems. Targets such as CD133 and EpCAM/ESA could mark out CSCs from normal cells enabling specific intervention but indirect strategies such as interfering with the establishment of a supportive niche through anti-angiogenic or anti-stroma therapy could be more effective.

This review will outline the recent discoveries for CSCs across the major tumour types highlighting the possible molecules for intervention. Examples of antibody-directed CSC therapies will be given and the outlook for the future development of this emerging area will be given.

经过过去 30 年的大量研究和开发，针对癌症的抗体在临床和商业上取得了成功。它们仍然有提供长期治疗的潜力，但对肿瘤发展的癌症干细胞 (CSC) 模型的思维转变肯定会影响抗体的选择和开发方式、它们结合的靶点以及用于治疗的药物。与他们结合。已从许多人类肿瘤中鉴定出 CSC，并具有许多正常干细胞的特征。更新、代谢或物理保护自己免受外源性物质和 DNA 损伤的能力以及表达的运动相关受体的范围可以解释导致转移和患者复发的耐药性和辐射不敏感性的观察结果。

靶向 CSC 可能是改善癌症治疗结果的一种策略，但这并不像看起来那么简单。CD133 和 EpCAM/ESA 等靶标可以从正常细胞中标记出 CSC，从而实现特定干预，但间接策略（例如通过抗血管生成或抗基质疗法干扰支持性生态位的建立）可能更有效。

本综述将概述主要肿瘤类型中 CSC 的最新发现，重点介绍可能的干预分子。将给出抗体导向的 CSC 疗法的例子，并给出这一新兴领域未来发展的前景。