Cancer Stem Cells: The Real Enemies within Cancer?
Abstract
That cancers are heterogeneous has been known to cancer
biologists since the invention of microscope. Yet, the existence of functional heterogeneity within cancers has come to be appreciated only recently, with the discovery of cancer stem cells. The cancer stem cell hypothesis posits that a small subpopulation of cancer cells, with stem-like properties of self-renewal and differentiation, is central to the growth of cancers. While the rest, or the bulk of cancer cells, may be easily targeted by chemotherapy, this subpopulation of cancer stem cells remains refractory, thus leading to cancer relapse. Therefore, future anti-cancer therapies should be aimed at eradicating the cancer stem cells. In this article, I will review the origin and current status of the cancer stem cell hypothesis, and its therapeutic implications.
biologists since the invention of microscope. Yet, the existence of functional heterogeneity within cancers has come to be appreciated only recently, with the discovery of cancer stem cells. The cancer stem cell hypothesis posits that a small subpopulation of cancer cells, with stem-like properties of self-renewal and differentiation, is central to the growth of cancers. While the rest, or the bulk of cancer cells, may be easily targeted by chemotherapy, this subpopulation of cancer stem cells remains refractory, thus leading to cancer relapse. Therefore, future anti-cancer therapies should be aimed at eradicating the cancer stem cells. In this article, I will review the origin and current status of the cancer stem cell hypothesis, and its therapeutic implications.
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