title: Cancer stem cells of the digestive system.
abstract: Stem cells of the digestive system are ideal in many ways for research, given they are abundant, highly proliferative and have a uniform structural arrangement. This in turn has enormously aided the research of cancer stem cells of the digestive system, which is now shaping our understanding of cancer stem cells. In this review, the recent advances in the understanding of cancer stem cells of the digestive system have been summarized, including aspects such as their identification, origin, cell-cycle dormancy, relationship with epithelial-mesenchymal transition, cellular metabolism and the underlying molecular mechanisms. Newly acquired knowledge concerning cancer stem cells have led to the development of novel cancer therapeutics with provisional yet encouraging results.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Department of Frontier Science for Cancer and Chemotherapy, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka.
authors.forename: Hugh S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Colvin
authors.affiliation: Department of Frontier Science for Cancer and Chemotherapy, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka.
authors.forename: Naohiro
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nishida
authors.affiliation: Department of Cancer Profiling Discovery, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Koseki
authors.affiliation: Department of Frontier Science for Cancer and Chemotherapy, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka.
authors.forename: Masamitsu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Konno
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Department of Frontier Science for Cancer and Chemotherapy, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka.
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kawamoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Department of Frontier Science for Cancer and Chemotherapy, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Taiho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Kenta
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsunekuni
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Department of Frontier Science for Cancer and Chemotherapy, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Department of Cancer Profiling Discovery, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka.
authors.forename: Yuichiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Doki
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Department of Frontier Science for Cancer and Chemotherapy, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Department of Cancer Profiling Discovery, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka mmori@gesurg.med.osaka-u.ac.jp hishii@gesurg.med.osaka-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Masaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.affiliation: Department of Frontier Science for Cancer and Chemotherapy, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Department of Cancer Profiling Discovery, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka mmori@gesurg.med.osaka-u.ac.jp hishii@gesurg.med.osaka-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Hideshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ishii
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002453:Cell Cycle; D004064:Digestive System; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm; D058750:Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition; D006801:Humans; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction
keywords: digestive system; epithelial–mesenchymal transition; metabolism; neoplastic stem cells; therapeutics