Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
17
pubmed:dateCreated
2008-6-9
pubmed:abstractText
Cellular heterogeneity in cancer was observed decades ago by studies in mice which showed that distinct subpopulations of cells within a tumor mass are capable of driving tumorigenesis. Conceptualized from this finding was the stem-cell hypothesis for cancer, which suggests that only a specific subset of cancer cells within each tumor is responsible for tumor initiation and propagation, termed tumor initiating cells or cancer stem cells (CSCs). Recent data has been provided to support the existence of CSCs in human blood cell-derived cancers and solid organ tumors of the breast, brain, prostate, colon, and skin. Study of human pancreatic cancers has also revealed a specific subpopulation of cancer cells that possess the characteristics of CSCs. These pancreatic cancer stem cells express the cell surface markers CD44, CD24, and epithelial-specific antigen, and represent 0.5% to 1.0% of all pancreatic cancer cells. Along with the properties of self-renewal and multilineage differentiation, pancreatic CSCs display upregulation of important developmental genes that maintain self-renewal in normal stem cells, including Sonic hedgehog (SHH) and BMI-1. Signaling cascades that are integral in tumor metastasis are also upregulated in the pancreatic CSC. Understanding the biologic behavior and the molecular pathways that regulate growth, survival, and metastasis of pancreatic CSCs will help to identify novel therapeutic approaches to treat this dismal disease.
pubmed:commentsCorrections
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Jun
pubmed:issn
1527-7755
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Electronic
pubmed:day
10
pubmed:volume
26
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
2806-12
pubmed:dateRevised
2010-3-4
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed-meshheading:18539958-Animals, pubmed-meshheading:18539958-Antineoplastic Agents, pubmed-meshheading:18539958-Cell Differentiation, pubmed-meshheading:18539958-Cell Proliferation, pubmed-meshheading:18539958-Cell Separation, pubmed-meshheading:18539958-Drug Resistance, Neoplasm, pubmed-meshheading:18539958-Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic, pubmed-meshheading:18539958-Humans, pubmed-meshheading:18539958-Inflammation, pubmed-meshheading:18539958-Neoplasm Metastasis, pubmed-meshheading:18539958-Neoplastic Stem Cells, pubmed-meshheading:18539958-Pancreatic Neoplasms, pubmed-meshheading:18539958-Radiotherapy, pubmed-meshheading:18539958-Regeneration, pubmed-meshheading:18539958-Signal Transduction, pubmed-meshheading:18539958-Treatment Failure, pubmed-meshheading:18539958-Tumor Markers, Biological
pubmed:year
2008
pubmed:articleTitle
Pancreatic cancer stem cells.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Review, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't