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Related Concept Videos

Cancer Stem Cells and Tumor Maintenance02:40

Cancer Stem Cells and Tumor Maintenance

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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...
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The Tumor Microenvironment02:17

The Tumor Microenvironment

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Every normal cell or tissue is embedded in a complex local environment called stroma, consisting of different cell types, a basal membrane, and blood vessels. As normal cells mutate and develop into cancer cells, their local environment also changes to allow cancer progression. The tumor microenvironment (TME) consists of a complex cellular matrix of stromal cells and the developing tumor. The cross-talk between cancer cells and surrounding stromal cells is critical to disrupt normal tissue...
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Distinctive Features of Adult Stem Cells vs Cancer Stem Cells01:18

Distinctive Features of Adult Stem Cells vs Cancer Stem Cells

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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:...
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Adaptive Mechanisms in Cancer Cells02:53

Adaptive Mechanisms in Cancer Cells

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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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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Nov 3, 2025

Heteromulticellular Stromal Cells in Scaffold-free 3D Cultures of Epithelial Cancer Cells to Drive Invasion
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Heteromulticellular Stromal Cells in Scaffold-free 3D Cultures of Epithelial Cancer Cells to Drive Invasion

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Engineering stromal heterogeneity in cancer.

Leon Jia Wei Tang1, Ayshath Zaseela2, Clarissa Chin Min Toh3

  • 1Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore.

Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews
|June 4, 2021
PubMed
Summary

Understanding tumor stromal heterogeneity is key for better cancer models. Reconstructing this complexity in vitro aids drug development and personalized cancer testing.

Keywords:
Cancer-associated fibroblastsHydrogelIn vitro modelsMicrofluidicsStromal heterogeneityTumor microenvironmentTumor-associated macrophagesTumoral niches

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Related Experiment Videos

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Heterogeneity Mapping of Protein Expression in Tumors using Quantitative Immunofluorescence
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Heterogeneity Mapping of Protein Expression in Tumors using Quantitative Immunofluorescence

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Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Cell Biology
  • Biotechnology

Background:

  • Advances in single-cell technologies reveal significant stromal heterogeneity within the tumor microenvironment.
  • Stromal cell subpopulations possess distinct functions and spatial distributions impacting tumor progression.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To highlight the importance of incorporating stromal heterogeneity and tumor architecture into in vitro tumor models.
  • To propose a framework for reconstructing stromal heterogeneity in vitro for enhanced tumor modeling.

Main Methods:

  • Review of current knowledge on stromal heterogeneity derived from single-cell technologies.
  • Discussion of approaches for in vitro reconstruction of tumor stromal complexity.

Main Results:

  • Stromal heterogeneity significantly impacts tumor modeling for drug development and personalized testing.
  • Next-generation tumor models incorporating stromal complexity can improve drug targeting and patient-specific testing.

Conclusions:

  • Accurate recapitulation of tumor stromal heterogeneity in vitro is crucial for advancing cancer research and therapeutics.
  • Proposed approaches can guide the development of more predictive and personalized preclinical cancer models.