摘要Prostate cancer,one of the most frequently occurring cancers in men,is a heterogeneous disease involving multiple cell types within tumors.This tumor heterogeneity at least partly results from genomic instability leading to sub-clonal cellular differentiation.The differentiated cell populations originate from a small subset of cells with tumor-initiating and stem-like properties.These cells,termed prostate cancer stem cells(PCSCs),play crucial roles in disease progression,drug resistance,and relapse.This review discusses the origin,hierarchy,and plasticity of PCSCs;methods for isolation and enrichment of PCSCs;and various cellular and metabolic sgnaling pathways involved in PCSC induction and maintenance,as well as therapeutic targeting.