Cancer Stem Cells in Urooncology

The aging of society has led to an increase in the incidence of urological cancers. Surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapeutic agents are widely used treatment options, in addition to minimally invasive new therapeutical approaches developed in the past decade. Unfortunately, we are still a long way from preventing mortality due to urological cancers or to achieving long-term progression-free disease control. Extensive research in recent years has established the presence of a relatively small population of cancer stem cells, which may be targeted to reach these goals. Mounting evidence points to the role of CSCs in metastasis, treatment resistance, and recurrence. In this chapter, we review the presence of CSCs in bladder, prostate, and kidney cancers with emphasis on their identification and clinical relevance.