Therapeutic Implications of the Cancer Stem Cell Hypothesis

Diehn, Maximilian; Cho, Robert W.; Clarke, Michael F.

doi:10.1016/j.semradonc.2008.11.002

« Previous Next »Seminars in Radiation Oncology
Volume 19, Issue 2 , Pages 78-86, April 2009

Therapeutic Implications of the Cancer Stem Cell Hypothesis

Maximilian Diehn, MD, PhD
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Stanford University, School of Medicine, Stanford, CA
- Stanford Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Stanford Cancer Center and Ludwig Center at Stanford, Stanford University, School of Medicine, Stanford, CA
Robert W. Cho, MD
- Stanford Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Stanford Cancer Center and Ludwig Center at Stanford, Stanford University, School of Medicine, Stanford, CA
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Stem Cell Transplantation, Stanford University, School of Medicine, Stanford, CA
Michael F. Clarke, MD
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Stem Cell Transplantation, Stanford University, School of Medicine, Stanford, CA
- Department of Medicine, Stanford University, School of Medicine, Stanford, CA
- Address reprint requests to Michael F. Clarke, MD, Stanford Institutes of Medicine, 1050 Arastradero Road (Lower Bldg), Room A151, MC: 5542, Palo Alto, CA 94304

A growing body of evidence indicates that subpopulations of cancer stem cells (CSCs) drive and maintain many types of human malignancies. These findings have important implications for the development and evaluation of oncologic therapies and present opportunities for potential gains in patient outcome. The existence of CSCs mandates careful analysis and comparison of normal tissue stem cells and CSCs to identify differences between the two cell types. The development of CSC-targeted treatments will face a number of potential hurdles, including normal stem cell toxicity and the acquisition of treatment resistance, which must be considered in order to maximize the chance that such therapies will be successful.