title: Stem cells and cancer.
abstract: The cell of origin of cancer has been a strongly debated topic through out the history of cancer research. This review provides a historic framework and a synopsis of how the theories of cancer initiation and progression evolved from early times to the present day. We present the concept of a cancer stem cell, and review for you the literature supporting the existence of cancer stem cells in addition to a brief discussion on our own work supporting a bone marrow-derived source for the cancer stem cell, as well as cells of the cancer stroma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, GI Division, University of Massachusetts Medical School, LRB-Second Floor, Room 209, 364 Plantation Street, Worcester, MA 01605-2324, United States. jeanmarie.houghton@umassmed.edu
authors.forename: JeanMarie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Houghton
authors.forename: Alexei
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Morozov
authors.forename: Iva
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Smirnova
authors.forename: Timothy C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells / Q000473:pathology*