Cancer, Stem Cells, and Transcription Factors
Head of the group
The cancer stem cell concept
Analogous to the development of tissues from normal stem cells, there is increasing evidence suggesting that malignancies are sustained by cancer stem cells, a minor tumor subpopulation which maintains the uncontrolled production of less malignant neoplastic daughter cells (blasts). Cancer stem cells appear to share important functions with normal stem cells such as self-renewal, differentiation, and long-term survival. It is therefore believed that a similar set of critical genes controls both normal and tumor stem cells, which include the Wnt-pathway and the Polycomb-family member Bmi1. The existence of cancer stem cells is of great clinical relevance since their unique “stemness” properties are likely enabling them to escape conventional anti-cancer therapy designed to target the fast cycling and highly proliferating cancer blasts. This inability to eradicate cancer stem cells might be responsible for the disease relapses frequently observed in cancer patients.