Excess
iron causes
cancer and is thought to be related to
carcinogenesis and
cancer progression including stemness, but the details remain unclear. Here, we hypothesized that stemness in
cancer is related to
iron metabolism and that regulating
iron metabolism in cancer stem cells (CSCs) may be a novel
therapy. In this study, we used murine induced pluripotent stem cells that expressed specific stem cell genes such as Nanog, Oct3/4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc, and two human
cancer cell lines with similar stem cell gene expression.
Deferasirox, an orally available
iron chelator, suppressed expression of stemness markers and spherogenesis of cells with high stemness status in vitro. Combination
therapy had a marked antitumor effect compared with
deferasirox or
cisplatin alone.
Iron metabolism appears important for maintenance of stemness in CSCs. An
iron chelator combined with
chemotherapy may be a novel approach via suppressing stemness for CSC targeted
therapy.