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Updated: Jul 3, 2026
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Isolation and Characterization of a Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Subpopulation Having Stem Cell Characteristics
Published on: May 11, 2016
A stem cell gene expression profile of human squamous cell carcinomas
Kim B Jensen1, Judith Jones, Fiona M Watt
1Wellcome Trust Centre for Stem Cell Research, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge, CB2 1QR, United Kingdom.
Cancer Letters
|July 29, 2008
Summary
Squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) do not simply expand normal stem cells. Instead, tumor cells alter stem cell controls, losing markers that maintain stem cell quiescence.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Stem Cell Biology
- Dermatology
Background:
- Normal epithelial stem cells maintain tissue homeostasis.
- Squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) are malignant tumors arising from epithelial cells.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between normal epidermal stem cells and cells within squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs).
- To identify specific stem cell markers whose expression is altered during SCC development.
Main Methods:
- Examined the expression of human epidermal stem cell markers in SCC tissues and cell lines.
- Correlated marker expression with tumor differentiation and proliferation status.
Main Results:
- Stem cell markers co-expressed in normal stem cells were not co-expressed in SCCs.
- Downregulation of Lrig1 and MAP4, and upregulation of MCSP, correlated with poor differentiation and increased proliferation in primary tumors.
Conclusions:
- SCCs do not represent a simple expansion of normal stem cells.
- Tumor cells appear to hijack and alter the regulatory mechanisms of normal stem cells.
- Loss of markers associated with stem cell quiescence may contribute to SCC progression.
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