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Cancer stem cells revisited

Nature Medicine volume 23, pages 1124–1134 (2017)Cite this article

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Abstract

The cancer stem cell (CSC) concept was proposed four decades ago, and states that tumor growth, analogous to the renewal of healthy tissues, is fueled by small numbers of dedicated stem cells. It has gradually become clear that many tumors harbor CSCs in dedicated niches, and yet their identification and eradication has not been as obvious as was initially hoped. Recently developed lineage-tracing and cell-ablation strategies have provided insights into CSC plasticity, quiescence, renewal, and therapeutic response. Here we discuss new developments in the CSC field in relationship to changing insights into how normal stem cells maintain healthy tissues. Expectations in the field have become more realistic, and now, the first successes of therapies based on the CSC concept are emerging.

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Figure 1: Emerging concepts in stem cell and CSC (stem cell/CSC) biology.
Figure 2: Consequences of anti-CSCs therapies.

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Acknowledgements

Work in the laboratory of E.B. is supported by Fundación Botín and Banco Santander, through Santander Universities and the European Research Council (advanced grant no. 340176). We thank E. Sancho and J. Stanisavljevic for proofreading the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain

    Eduard Batlle

  2. Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain

    Eduard Batlle

  3. CiberONC, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Cáncer (CIBERONC), Barcelona, Spain

    Eduard Batlle

  4. Hubrecht Institute, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, University Medical Center Utrecht and Princess Maxima Center, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Hans Clevers

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  1. Eduard Batlle
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Correspondence to Eduard Batlle or Hans Clevers.

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Batlle, E., Clevers, H. Cancer stem cells revisited. Nat Med 23, 1124–1134 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.4409

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