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Related Concept Videos

Cancer Stem Cells and Tumor Maintenance02:40

Cancer Stem Cells and Tumor Maintenance

Early diagnosis and treatment can often cure cancer. However, even with treatment, residual cells called cancer stem cells (CSC) might remain, often causing tumor recurrence. These cancer stem cells possess the potential for self-renewal and multi-lineage differentiation and are often responsible for the therapeutic resistance displayed in most cancers.
Cancer stem cells are thought to originate from tissue-specific normal stem cells or progenitor cells. The normal stem cells usually reside in...
Cancer Stem Cells and Tumor Maintenance02:40

Cancer Stem Cells and Tumor Maintenance

Early diagnosis and treatment can often cure cancer. However, even with treatment, residual cells called cancer stem cells (CSC) might remain, often causing tumor recurrence. These cancer stem cells possess the potential for self-renewal and multi-lineage differentiation and are often responsible for the therapeutic resistance displayed in most cancers.
Cancer stem cells are thought to originate from tissue-specific normal stem cells or progenitor cells. The normal stem cells usually reside in...
Distinctive Features of Adult Stem Cells vs Cancer Stem Cells01:18

Distinctive Features of Adult Stem Cells vs Cancer Stem Cells

A stem cell is an unspecialized cell that can divide without limit as needed and can, under specific conditions, differentiate into specialized cells.
Adult stem cells
Adult stem cells are tissue-specific; hence, they divide to develop the tissue from which they originate. One type of adult stem cell is the epithelial stem cell, which gives rise to the keratinocytes in the multiple layers of epithelial cells in the epidermis of the skin. Adult bone marrow has three distinct types of stem cells:...
Mesenchymal Stem Cells01:19

Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are adult stem cells that can differentiate into most connective tissue cell types, except for hematopoietic cells, depending upon the source of MSCs. For example, bone-marrow-derived MSCs (BM-MSCs) can differentiate into osteocytes, hepatocytes, and pancreatic and neuronal cells. MSCs can be isolated from various sources such as bone marrow, placenta, adipose tissue, teeth, and Wharton’s jelly, a gelatinous substance in the umbilical cord. The ease of their access...
Metastasis02:30

Metastasis

Metastasis is the spread of cancer cells from the original site to distant locations in the body. Cancer cells can spread via blood vessels (hematogenous) as well as lymph vessels in the body.
Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition
The epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition or EMT is a developmental process commonly observed in wound healing, embryogenesis, and cancer metastasis. EMT is induced by transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) or receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) ligands, which further...
Adaptive Mechanisms in Cancer Cells02:53

Adaptive Mechanisms in Cancer Cells

Cancer cells accumulate genetic changes at an abnormally rapid rate due to the defects in the DNA repair mechanisms. From an evolutionary perspective, such genetic instability is advantageous for cancer development. Mutant cell lines accumulate a series of beneficial mutations that contribute to their progression into cancer.
Some of the advantages that cancer cells have on normal cells include - enhanced ability to divide without terminally differentiating, induce new blood vessel formation,...

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Obtaining Cancer Stem Cell Spheres from Gynecological and Breast Cancer Tumors
07:01

Obtaining Cancer Stem Cell Spheres from Gynecological and Breast Cancer Tumors

Published on: March 1, 2020

Breast-cancer stem cells-beyond semantics.

Sunil Badve1, Harikrishna Nakshatri

  • 1Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Indiana University Simon Cancer Center, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA. sbadve@iupui.edu

The Lancet. Oncology
|January 10, 2012
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) may drive breast cancer heterogeneity and treatment resistance. These aggressive cells evolve, adapt to metastasis, and their origin impacts tumor development and outcomes.

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Obtaining Cancer Stem Cell Spheres from Gynecological and Breast Cancer Tumors
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Isolation and Functional Assessment of Human Breast Cancer Stem Cells from Cell and Tissue Samples
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Isolation and Functional Assessment of Human Breast Cancer Stem Cells from Cell and Tissue Samples

Published on: October 2, 2020

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Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Cancer Biology
  • Stem Cell Research

Background:

  • Intratumoral heterogeneity is a hallmark of breast cancer.
  • Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are hypothesized to drive this heterogeneity and possess traits like dormancy and toxin resistance.
  • CSCs are often identified by markers (e.g., CD44, CD24, ALDH1) and functional assays.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To critically evaluate the cancer stem cell (CSC) hypothesis in breast cancer.
  • To explore the origins, properties, and implications of CSCs in tumor heterogeneity and treatment resistance.
  • To discuss the limitations of current CSC identification methods and propose an alternative perspective.

Main Methods:

  • Review and critical analysis of existing literature on CSCs in breast cancer.
  • Discussion of theoretical questions regarding CSC origin, subtype-specific properties, and plasticity.
  • Examination of methods for CSC identification and their limitations.

Main Results:

  • The CSC phenotype is proposed to represent an aggressive clone undergoing constant evolution.
  • CSCs integrate cancer hallmarks, including mutations for asymmetric division and immune evasion.
  • Plasticity allows CSCs to adapt to metastatic sites via reversible changes.

Conclusions:

  • The origin of cancer cells may influence CSC development rate and disease outcome.
  • CSCs exhibit plasticity and evolve to survive adverse environments and evade therapy.
  • The CSC concept, despite methodological limitations, offers insights into tumor evolution and aggression.