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Cancer treatment failure, drug resistance, or metastatic recurrence are thought to be caused mainly by the existence of a very small number of cancer stem cells (CSCs). The characteristics of this subgroup of cells include self-renewal, tumorigenesis, multiple differentiation and high invasiveness, metastasis, and drug resistance potential. Many studies have demonstrated that CSCs play important roles in tumor growth, spread and metastatic relapse after treatment, and are closely related to the prognosis of patients. From a therapeutic viewpoint, deep insights into the CSCs biology, development of specific therapeutic strategies for targeting CSCs, and characterization of their microenvironment could be an ideal way to combat cancer.