The cancer stem cell hypothesis: a work in progress.
There is a growing body of evidence that supports the idea that malignant tumors are initiated and maintained by a population of tumor cells that share similar biologic properties to normal adult stem cells. This model, the cancer stem cell (CSC) hypothesis, is based on the observation that tumors, like adult tissues, arise from cells that exhibit the ability to self-renew as well as give rise to differentiated tissue cells. Although the concept of the CSC is not entirely new, advances made over the past two decades in our understanding of normal stem cell biology in conjunction with the recent application of these concepts to experimentally define CSCs have resulted in the identification of CSCs in several human malignancies.
Tan
Brenton Thomas
BT
Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305-5324, USA. btan@stanford.edu
Park
Christopher Yongchul
CY
Ailles
Laurie Elizabeth
LE
Weissman
Irving L
IL
D053687:Adult Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D009385:Neoplastic Processes; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology*