title: Cancer stem cells: targeting the roots of cancer, seeds of metastasis, and sources of therapy resistance.
abstract: With the goal to remove the roots of cancer, eliminate metastatic seeds, and overcome therapy resistance, the 2014 inaugural International Cancer Stem Cell (CSC) Conference at Cleveland, OH, convened together over 320 investigators, including 55 invited world-class speakers, 25 short oral presenters, and 100 poster presenters, to gain an in-depth understanding of CSCs and explore therapeutic opportunities targeting CSCs. The meeting enabled intriguing discussions on several topics including: genetics and epigenetics; cancer origin and evolution; microenvironment and exosomes; metabolism and inflammation; metastasis and therapy resistance; single cell and heterogeneity; plasticity and reprogramming; as well as other new concepts. Reports of clinical trials targeting CSCs emphasized the urgent need for strategically designing combinational CSC-targeting therapies against cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio.
authors.forename: Valery
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Adorno-Cruz
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio.
authors.forename: Golam
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kibria
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio.
authors.forename: Xia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio.
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Doherty
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio.
authors.forename: Damian J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Junk
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio.
authors.forename: Dongyin
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Guan
authors.affiliation: Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland, Ohio.
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hubert
authors.affiliation: Department of Cancer Biology, Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland, Ohio.
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Venere
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland, Ohio.
authors.forename: Erin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mulkearns-Hubert
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland, Ohio.
authors.forename: Maksim
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sinyuk
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland, Ohio.
authors.forename: Alvaro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alvarado
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio. National Center for Regenerative Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio.
authors.forename: Arnold I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Caplan
authors.affiliation: Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland, Ohio. National Center for Regenerative Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio.
authors.forename: Jeremy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rich
authors.affiliation: National Center for Regenerative Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. Department of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio.
authors.forename: Stanton L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Gerson
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland, Ohio. National Center for Regenerative Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio.
authors.forename: Justin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lathia
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio. National Center for Regenerative Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. hliu@case.edu.
authors.forename: Huiping
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D006801:Humans; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D059016:Tumor Microenvironment