O'Brien Catherine Adell, Kreso Antonija, Dick John E
Department of General Surgery, Toronto General Hospital, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Semin Radiat Oncol. 2009 Apr;19(2):71-7. doi: 10.1016/j.semradonc.2008.11.001.
It has long been appreciated that significant functional and morphologic heterogeneity can exist within the individual cells that comprise a tumor. Increasing evidence indicates that many solid tumors are organized in a hierarchical manner in which tumor growth is driven by a small subset of cancer stem cells (CSCs) or tumor-initiating cells. Although these cells represent a small percentage of the overall tumor population, they are the only cells capable of initiating and driving tumor growth. Emerging evidence indicates that these cells are also resistant to chemotherapy and radiation therapy, which has led to much speculation and interest surrounding the potential clinical applicability of CSCs.
长期以来，人们已经认识到，构成肿瘤的单个细胞内可能存在显著的功能和形态异质性。越来越多的证据表明，许多实体瘤是以分层方式组织的，其中肿瘤生长由一小部分癌症干细胞（CSCs）或肿瘤起始细胞驱动。尽管这些细胞在整个肿瘤群体中只占一小部分，但它们是唯一能够启动和驱动肿瘤生长的细胞。新出现的证据表明，这些细胞对化疗和放疗也具有抗性，这引发了围绕癌症干细胞潜在临床适用性的诸多猜测和兴趣。
