前列腺癌（PCa）是全球男性中最常见的恶性肿瘤。癌症干细胞（CSCs）是肿瘤中存在的一种亚群细胞，具有自我更新和多线分化的独特特性，因此被认为是包括PCa在内的多种恶性肿瘤治疗抵抗、疾病复发和死亡的主要原因。CSCs也表现出与常见干细胞标记物如ALDH EZH2、OCT4、SOX2、c-MYC、Nanog等的阳性。因此，分离和表征CSCs特定标记物对于有选择地消除CSCs至关重要。该领域的快速发展为包括病因学在内的许多持久的不确定性提供了理论解释，并为在将来识别新的干细胞靶标、开发可靠和高效的治疗提供了乐观。新出现的报道也为CSCs的可塑性、静止、更新和治疗反应提供了前所未有的见解。在本综述中，我们讨论了PCa干细胞的鉴定、其独特特性、驱动干细胞通路、新的诊断和治疗干预。版权所有©2023 Elsevier B.V.出版。

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most diagnosed malignancy in the men worldwide. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are the sub-population of cells present in the tumor which possess unique properties of self-renewal and multilineage differentiation thus thought to be major cause of therapy resistance, disease relapse, and mortality in several malignancies including PCa. CSCs have also been shown positive for the common stem cells markers such as ALDH EZH2, OCT4, SOX2, c-MYC, Nanog etc. Therefore, isolation and characterization of CSCs specific markers which may discriminate CSCs and normal stem cells are critical to selectively eliminate CSCs. Rapid advances in the field offers a theoretical explanation for many of the enduring uncertainties encompassing the etiology and an optimism for the identification of new stem-cell targets, development of reliable and efficient therapies in the future. The emerging reports have also provided unprecedented insights into CSCs plasticity, quiescence, renewal, and therapeutic response. In this review, we discuss the identification of PCa stem cells, their unique properties, stemness-driving pathways, new diagnostics, and therapeutic interventions.Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.