title: [Stem cell--is there any role in tumorigenic activity].
abstract: Stem cells are a quintessential key to proper behavior of homeostatic processes. They are often thought of as the solution to a wide range of human conditions, with the ability to rescue malfunctioning or non-functioning organs and tissues. However, there is increasing evidence that stem cells can play a central role in disease. Most recently stem cells have been implicated in cancer after not responding to homeostasic controls such as proliferation and differentiation. Cancer has long been seen as a disease that arises from mutations that impair the capacity of any cell within the organism to respond to the signals that regulate proliferation. Besides their scarcity or abundance, a second important issue with respect to cancer stem cells is their origin. A new defining model for carcinogenesis, the "cancer stem cell hypothesis" was put forward in 2006, according to which cancer is a stem cell disease that places malignant stem cells at the centre of its tumorigenic activity as they have the capacity to undergo self-renewal, and have the potential to differentiate into different types of cells in a specific lineage.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Government Dental College, Raipur, India. sonal_ankur@rediffmail.com
authors.forename: Sonal
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saigal
authors.forename: Ankur
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bhargava
mesh_terms: D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells / Q000473:pathology*; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000473:pathology*