Year: 2012
Type: review
Abstract: The cancer stem cell (CSC) concept, which arose more than a decade ago, proposed that tumor growth is sustained by a subpopulation of highly malignant cancerous cells. These cells, termed CSCs, comprise the top of the tumor cell hierarchy and have been isolated from many leukemias and solid tumors. Recent work has discovered that this hierarchy is embedded within a genetically heterogeneous tumor, in which various related but distinct subclones compete within the tumor mass. Thus, genetically distinct CSCs exist on top of each subclone, revealing a highly complex cellular composition of tumors. The CSC concept has therefore evolved to better model the complex and highly dynamic processes of tumorigenesis, tumor relapse, and metastasis.
Source: The Journal of Cell Biology
Authors: Irène Baccelli, Andreas Trumpp
Language: English
Topic: Cancer Cells and Metastasis
Subfield: Oncology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2121986702