Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Interdisciplinary Research (IRIBHM), University of Brussels, Brussels, Belgium.
Oncogene. 2011 Nov 17;30(46):4609-21. doi: 10.1038/onc.2011.184. Epub 2011 Jun 6.
Cell populations of solid cancers and their distant models, the cancer cell lines, have been categorized in sub-populations: cancer stem-tumor-propagating cells (CSC-TPC) versus derived cells, epithelial- versus mesenchymal-type cells, dormant versus actively proliferating cells and so on. CSC-TPC are minimally defined by their operational properties: immortality and the ability to regenerate in vivo or in vitro the whole panel of cancer cells. The epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), mostly observed in vitro, generates mesenchymal-type from epithelial-type cells. The converse transition is mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition. In vitro work suggests that CSC-TPC and EMT cell phenotypes overlap. An analysis of the properties of these sub-populations, as studied in vitro, shows that indeed these two phenotypes may be linked to some extent. However, the in vivo counterpart of this relation in human tumors has barely been investigated. A model in which among the EMT cells released from the tumor only the most competent CSC-TPC will succeed to metastasize is proposed. It is suggested that in the Darwinian evolution of cancer cells, many phenotypes reflecting the expression of various programs, reversible to irreversible, exclusive, overlapping or linked coexist and compete with each other.
实体瘤的细胞群体及其远处模型（癌细胞系）已经被分为亚群：癌症干细胞-肿瘤增殖细胞（CSC-TPC）与衍生细胞、上皮型与间充质型细胞、休眠与活跃增殖细胞等。CSC-TPC 主要通过其操作特性来定义：永生和在体内或体外再生整个癌细胞系的能力。上皮-间充质转化（EMT）主要在体外观察到，它将上皮型细胞转化为间充质型细胞。相反的转化是间充质-上皮转化。体外研究表明，CSC-TPC 和 EMT 细胞表型重叠。对这些亚群在体外研究的特性进行分析表明，这两种表型在某种程度上可能存在关联。然而，在人类肿瘤中，这种关系的体内对应物几乎没有被研究过。提出了一种模型，即在从肿瘤中释放的 EMT 细胞中，只有最具能力的 CSC-TPC 才能成功转移。据推测，在癌细胞的达尔文进化过程中，许多反映不同程序表达的表型共存并相互竞争，这些程序是可逆的、不可逆的、排他的、重叠的或相互关联的。
