Department of Pathology, Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama City University, 3-9 Fukuura, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama 236-0004, Japan.
Lung Cancer. 2009 Dec;66(3):275-81. doi: 10.1016/j.lungcan.2009.07.019. Epub 2009 Aug 28.
The cancer stem cell (CSC) theory is currently central to the field of cancer research, because it is not only a matter of academic interest but also crucial in cancer therapy. CSCs share a variety of biological properties with normal somatic stem cells in terms of self-renewal, the propagation of differentiated progeny, the expression of specific cell markers and stem cell genes, and the utilization of common signaling pathways and the stem cell niche. However, CSCs differ from normal stem cells in their tumorigenic activity. Thus, CSCs are also termed cancer initiating cells. In this paper, we briefly review hitherto described study results and refer to some excellent review articles to understand the basic properties of CSCs. In addition, we focus upon CSCs of lung cancers, since lung cancer is still increasing in incidence worldwide and remains the leading cause of cancer deaths. Understanding the properties of, and exploring cell markers and signaling pathways specific to, CSCs of lung cancers, will lead to progress in therapy, intervention, and improvement of the prognosis of patients with lung cancer. In the near future, the evaluation of CSCs may be a routine part of practical diagnostic pathology.
癌症干细胞（CSC）理论目前是癌症研究领域的核心，因为它不仅是一个学术兴趣的问题，而且在癌症治疗中也至关重要。CSC 在自我更新、分化后代的增殖、特定细胞标志物和干细胞基因的表达，以及利用共同的信号通路和干细胞生态位方面，与正常体干细胞具有多种生物学特性。然而，CSC 在其致瘤活性方面与正常干细胞不同。因此，CSC 也被称为癌症起始细胞。在本文中，我们简要回顾了迄今为止描述的研究结果，并参考了一些优秀的综述文章，以了解 CSC 的基本特性。此外，我们专注于肺癌的 CSC，因为肺癌在全球的发病率仍在上升，并且仍然是癌症死亡的主要原因。了解肺癌 CSC 的特性，以及探索其特定的细胞标志物和信号通路，将推动肺癌的治疗、干预和改善患者预后的进展。在不久的将来，CSC 的评估可能成为实用诊断病理学的常规部分。
