肿瘤干细胞的研究进展

随着对肿瘤研究的不断深入,以及对干细胞了解的日益加深,越来越多的证据提示肿瘤中某些细胞具有干细胞特性,并提出了肿瘤干细胞的学说,认为肿瘤的生长、转移以及耐药等均于肿瘤干细胞的关系密切.该文综述了肿瘤干细胞的发现、特点,以及在肿瘤的诊断、治疗和预后判断中的作用.

Advances in studies of cancer stem cells

Stem cells possess two basic characteristics: they are able to renew themselves and to develop into different cell types.Most cancers also comprise a heterogenous population of cells with marked differences in their proliferative potential.So it seems that some tumors arise from small populations of cancer stem cells.These cancer stem cells are a minor population of tumor cells that possess the stem cell property of self-renewal. This new model for cancer will have significantrevelation for the way we study and treat cancer. Through targeting the cancer stem cell,the therapies for treating cancer are likely to improve.