Targeting signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 pathway by cucurbitacin I diminishes self-renewing and radiochemoresistant abilities in thyroid cancer-derived CD133+ cells.

Anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) is a lethal solid tumor with poor prognosis because of its invasiveness and its resistance to current therapies. Recently, ATC-CD133+ cells were found to have cancer stem cell (CSC) properties and were suggested to be important contributors to tumorigenicity and cancer metastasis. However, the molecular pathways and therapeutic targets in thyroid cancer-related CSCs remain undetermined.