Interplay Between Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition and Cancer Stem Cells: Unveiling Potential Therapeutic Avenues

The global prevalence of cancer is on the rise, and while targeted therapies, early diagnosis, im-munotherapies, and conventional personalized chemotherapy have significantly upgraded out-comes for cancer patients, there is still a significant likelihood that cancer cannot be fully eradi-cated. Cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) and Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) exhibit pivotal roles in cancer cell metastasis, tumor recurrence, chemotherapy resistance, and cancer cell death, among other processes. This review aims to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying EMT and CSCs, their interplay, associated signaling pathways, and regulation of the EMT process and the initiation of CSCs. EMT induction confers mesenchymal properties and the potential of cancer cells to adopt the CSC state. These processes are intricately associated with the regulation of Notch and Wnt signaling pathways, transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), as well as the expres-sion of miRNAs. Further exploring the relationship between EMT and CSCs is essential for the development of new chemotherapeutic strategies and the identification of novel therapeutic tar-gets, and hence, the development of therapeutic strategies targeting EMT, or CSCs holds promise for improving cancer therapy.