Abstract:Gastric cancer stem cells are defined as a subset of gastric cancer cells that possess stem cell properties, including self-renewal and multiplex differentiation potential, and have crucial roles in tumor initiation, progression, invasion, metastasis and recurrence. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) can facilitate the invasion and metastasis of cancer cells to distant tissues, and confer the metastatic cancer cells some abilities of stem cells. Several transcription factors of EMT, signaling pathways and microRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in the process of regulating gastric cancer stem cell.

Key words:Stomach neoplasms,Neoplastic stem cells,Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition,Signal transduction