The Role of Tumor Microenvironment in Regulating the Plasticity of Osteosarcoma Cells

Osteosarcoma (OS) is a malignancy that is becoming increasingly common in adolescents. OS stem cells (OSCs) form a dynamic subset of OS cells that are responsible for malignant progression and chemoradiotherapy resistance. The unique properties of OSCs, including self-renewal, multilineage differentiation and metastatic potential, 149 depend closely on their tumor microenvironment. In recent years, the likelihood of its dynamic plasticity has been extensively studied. Importantly, the tumor microenvironment appears to act as the main regulatory component of OS cell plasticity. For these reasons aforementioned, novel strategies for OS treatment focusing on modulating OS cell plasticity and the possibility of modulating the composition of the tumor microenvironment are currently being explored. In this paper, we review recent studies describing the phenomenon of OSCs and factors known to influence phenotypic plasticity. The microenvironment, which can regulate OSC plasticity, has great potential for clinical exploitation and provides different perspectives for drug and treatment design for OS.

Automated summary

Osteosarcoma, an increasingly common malignancy in adolescents, is associated with the presence of osteosarcoma stem cells (OSCs) that contribute to malignant progression and therapy resistance. The unique properties of OSCs, such as self-renewal, multilineage differentiation, and metastatic potential, are closely regulated by the tumor microenvironment. Novel strategies targeting OSC plasticity and modulation of the tumor microenvironment are being explored for the treatment of osteosarcoma.