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Updated: Jun 27, 2026
11:28
Isolation and Characterization of a Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Subpopulation Having Stem Cell Characteristics
Published on: May 11, 2016
Stemness, cancer and cancer stem cells
David J Wong1, Eran Segal, Howard Y Chang
1Program in Epithelial Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California 94305, USA.
Cell Cycle (Georgetown, Tex.)
|November 26, 2008
Summary
Cancer stem cells share gene expression programs with embryonic stem cells (ESC). Activating these ESC-like programs can create induced cancer stem cells (iCSC) for research and therapeutic development.
Area of Science:
- Cancer Biology
- Stem Cell Research
- Genetics
Background:
- Cancer cells' indefinite growth suggests links to stem cells.
- Stemness involves distinct gene expression programs in embryonic and adult stem cells.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate shared transcriptional programs between embryonic stem cells (ESC) and cancer stem cells.
- To explore the potential for reprogramming adult cells into cancer stem cells.
Main Methods:
- Detailed gene expression mapping of embryonic and adult stem cells.
- Forced activation of ESC-like gene expression programs in adult epithelial cells.
Main Results:
- Gene expression maps revealed shared transcriptional programs between ESC and cancer stem cells.
- Reprogramming adult epithelial cells with an ESC-like program generated induced cancer stem cells (iCSC).
- These iCSCs exhibited pathologic self-renewal capabilities.
Conclusions:
- A shared ESC-like transcriptional program is crucial for cancer stem cell biology.
- The creation of iCSCs offers a novel model for studying cancer stem cell mechanisms.
- This approach may lead to new strategies for tracing or eliminating cancer stem cells in patients.
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