Strategies to eliminate cancer stem cells.
Therapeutic advances over the past three decades now allow most cancer patients to achieve major clinical responses. Although clinical responses can clearly decrease side effects and improve quality of life, most cancer patients still eventually relapse and die of their disease. Emerging data suggest that initial responses in cancer represent therapeutic effectiveness against the differentiated cancer cells making up the bulk of the tumor, while rare biologically distinct cancer stem cells resistant to the therapies are responsible for relapse. Better understanding the biology of cancer stem cells, and reexamining both our preclinical and clinical drug development paradigms to include the cancer stem cell concept, have the potential to revolutionize the treatment of many cancers.
Jones
R J
RJ
Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, Bunting-Blaustein Cancer Research Building, Room 244, 1650 Orleans St., 21231 Baltimore, USA. rjjones@jhmi.edu
D000818:Animals; D002469:Cell Separation; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*