title: Stem cells and the origin of gliomas: A historical reappraisal with molecular advancements.
abstract: The biology of both normal and tumor development clearly possesses overlapping and parallel features. Oncogenes and tumor suppressors are relevant not only in tumor biology, but also in physiological developmental regulators of growth and differentiation. Conversely, genes identified as regulators of developmental biology are relevant to tumor biology. This is particularly relevant in the context of brain tumors, where recent evidence is mounting that the origin of brain tumors, specifically gliomas, may represent dysfunctional developmental neurobiology. Neural stem cells are increasingly being investigated as the cell type that originally undergoes malignant transformation - the cell of origin - and the evidence for this is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurosurgery, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA;
authors.forename: Michael L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Levy
authors.forename: Allen L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: Samuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hughes
authors.forename: Jayant
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Menon
authors.forename: Rahul
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jandial
keywords: brain tumors; cancer stem cells; gliomas; neural stem cells; stem cells