Nitta Eriko, Suda Toshio
Department of Cell Differentiation, Keio University School of Medicine.
Nihon Rinsho. 2009 Oct;67(10):1863-7.
Although monoclonal in origin, most tumors appear to contain heterogeneous populations of cancer cells. One possible explanation of this tumor heterogeneity is that human tumors are not merely monoclonal expansions of a single transformed cell, but rather caricatures of normal tissues, and their growth is sustained by cancer stem cells (CSCs). This hierarchy model, first developed for human myeloid leukemias, is supported by mounting evidences today. This conceptual shift has important implications, not only for understanding tumor biology but also for developing and evaluating effective anticancer therapies. We review a history of the development of cancer stem cell concepts in hematology and recent topics of leukemic stem cells (LSCs).
尽管肿瘤起源于单克隆，但大多数肿瘤似乎都包含异质性的癌细胞群体。对这种肿瘤异质性的一种可能解释是，人类肿瘤不仅仅是单个转化细胞的单克隆扩增，而是正常组织的缩影，其生长由癌症干细胞（CSCs）维持。这种层级模型最初是为人类髓系白血病开发的，如今有越来越多的证据支持这一模型。这一概念转变不仅对理解肿瘤生物学具有重要意义，而且对开发和评估有效的抗癌疗法也具有重要意义。我们回顾了血液学中癌症干细胞概念的发展历程以及白血病干细胞（LSCs）的最新研究课题。
