title: Cancer stem cells: an evolving concept.
abstract: The cancer stem cell (CSC) concept derives from the fact that cancers are dysregulated tissue clones whose continued propagation is vested in a biologically distinct subset of cells that are typically rare. This idea is not new, but has recently gained prominence because of advances in defining normal tissue hierarchies, a greater appreciation of the multistep nature of oncogenesis and improved methods to propagate primary human cancers in immunodeficient mice. As a result we have obtained new insights into why the CSC concept is not universally applicable, as well as a new basis for understanding the complex evolution, phenotypic heterogeneity and therapeutic challenges of many human cancers.
authors.affiliation: Terry Fox Laboratory, British Columbia Cancer Agency and the University of British Columbia, 675 West 10th Avenue, Vancouver, British Columbia, V5Z 1L3, Canada.
authors.forename: Long V
authors.initials: LV
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vanner
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dirks
authors.forename: Connie J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Eaves
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D042822:Genomic Instability; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D013269:Stochastic Processes; D014183:Transplantation, Heterologous