Cancer Stem Cells New Horizons In Cancer Therapies

This book discusses the recent developments in the therapeutic implications of cancer stem cells for the effective diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of cancer. It summarizes the various stem cells of common cancers including colon, pancreas, lungs, prostate, melanoma, and glioblastoma, and reviews the potential role of cancer stem cells in tissue aggressiveness, examining the functional contribution of cancer stem cells in the establishment and recurrence of cancerous tumors. Further, it explores the potential of cancer stem cells as novel therapeutic targets for the treatment and prevention of tumor progression. The book also discusses the various approaches for detecting, isolating, and characterizing different cancer stem cells and signaling pathways that control their replication, survival, and differentiation. Lastly, it explores the key features and mechanisms of drug resistance, chemo-resistance, and radio-resistance in cancer stem cells to improve therapeutic rationale.

This book summarizes the latest findings about the role of cancer stem cells (CSCs) in cancer biology and how this knowledge could be used for novel anticancer therapies. It provides an overview of CSCs in selected malignancies with particular emphasis on hematopoietic neoplasias. It then reviews the role of CSCs in metastasis formation and initiat

Principles of Stem Cell Biology and Cancer: Future Applications and Therapeutics Tarik Regad, The John van Geest Cancer Research Centre, Nottingham Trent University, UK, Thomas J. Sayers, Centre for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, USA and Robert Rees The John van Geest Cancer Research Centre, Nottingham Trent University, UK The field of cancer stem cells is expanding rapidly, with many groups focusing on isolating and identifying cancer stem cell populations. Although some progress has been made developing efficient cancer therapies, targeting cancer stem cells remains one of the important challenges facing the growing stem cell research community. Principles of Stem Cell Biology and Cancer brings together original contributions from international experts in the field to present the very latest information linking stem cell biology and cancer. Divided into two parts, the book begins with a detailed introduction to stem cell biology with a focus on the characterization of these cells, progress that has been made in their identification, as well as future therapeutic applications of stem cells. The second part focuses on cancer stem cells and their role in cancer development, progression and chemo-resistance. This section of the book includes an overview of recent progress concerning therapies targeting cancer stem cells. Features: An authoritative introduction to the link between stem cell biology and cancer. Includes contributions from leading international experts in the field. Well-illustrated with full colour figures throughout. This book will prove an invaluable resource for basic and applied researchers and clinicians working on the development of new cancer treatments and therapies, providing a timely publication of high quality reviews outlining the current progress and exciting future possibilities for stem cell research.

Vast therapeutic applications of the following specific stem cells in disease and tissue injury are discussed: embryonic stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells, human hair follicle stem cells, bone marrow-derived human mesenchymal stem cells, adipose-derived stem cells, periodontal/progenitor cells, cancer stem cells, and breast cancer stem cells. Because human embryonic stem cells possess the potential to produce unlimited quantities of any human cell type, considerable focus is placed on this type of stem cells in this volume. The role of cancer stem cells, specifically in breast cancer is explained. Transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells to aid the injured brain is included. Immune recovery after stem cells transplantation in severe combined immunodeficiency patients is described. The role of mesenchymal stem cells in enhancing the growth and metastasis of colon cancer is discussed. Clinical application of human follicle stem cells is presented. Treatment of malignant gliomas using genetically-modified neural stem cells as a marker is discussed. The impact of cancer stem cell hypothesis on designing new cancer therapies is explained. In the field of regenerative medicine, the use of stem cells in the repair of the central nervous system, tendon injury, and as a cardiac regenerative medicine is described. The role of DNA methylation in maintaining stemness induced pluripotent stem cells from human extraembryonic amnion cells is discussed. Insights on the understanding of molecular pathways involved in tumor biology are explained, which lead to the development of effective drugs. Information on pathways, such as hedgehog, facilitates targeted therapies in cancer.

A new therapeutic strategy could break the stalemate in the war on cancer by targeting not all cancerous cells but the small fraction that lie at the root of cancers. Lucie Laplane offers a comprehensive analysis of cancer stem cell theory, based on an original interdisciplinary approach that combines biology, biomedical history, and philosophy.

Over the last thirty years, the foremost inspiration for research on metastasis, cancer recurrence, and increased resistance to chemo- and radiotherapy has been the notion of cancer stem cells.The twenty-eight chapters assembled in Cancer Stem Cells - The Cutting Edge summarize the work of cancer researchers and oncologists at leading universities and hospitals around the world on every aspect of cancer stem cells, from theory and models to specific applications (glioma), from laboratory research on signal pathways to clinical trials of bio-therapies using a host of devices, from solutions to laboratory problems to speculation on cancers' stem cells' evolution. Cancer stem cells may or may not be a subset of slowly dividing cancer cells that both disseminate cancers and defy oncotoxic drugs and radiation directed at rapidly dividing bulk cancer cells, but research on cancer stem cells has paid dividends for cancer prevention, detection, targeted treatment, and improved prognosis.

The cancer stem cell (CSC) paradigm represents one of the most prominent breakthroughs of the last decades in tumor biology. CSCs are that subpopulation within a tumor that can survive conventional therapies and as a consequence are able to fuel tumor recurrence. Nevertheless, the biological characteristics of CSCs and even their existence, remain the main topic among tumor biologists debates. The difficulty in achieving a better definition of CSC biology may actually be explained by the plasticity of such a cell subpopulation. Indeed, the emerging view is that CSCs represent a dynamic “state” of tumor cells that can acquire stemness-related properties under specific circumstances, rather than referring to a well-defined group of cells. Regardless of their origin, it is clear that designing novel antitumor treatments based on the eradication of CSCs will only be possible upon unraveling the biological mechanisms that underlie their pathogenic role in tumor progression and therapy resistance. The Special Issue on “New aspects of cancer stem cell biology: implications for innovative therapies” aims at highlighting recent insights into CSC features that can make them an attractive target for novel therapeutic strategies.

Vast therapeutic applications of the following specific stem cells in disease and tissue injury are discussed: embryonic stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells, human hair follicle stem cells, bone marrow-derived human mesenchymal stem cells, adipose-derived stem cells, periodontal/progenitor cells, cancer stem cells, and breast cancer stem cells. Because human embryonic stem cells possess the potential to produce unlimited quantities of any human cell type, considerable focus is placed on this type of stem cells in this volume. The role of cancer stem cells, specifically in breast cancer is explained. Transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells to aid the injured brain is included. Immune recovery after stem cells transplantation in severe combined immunodeficiency patients is described. The role of mesenchymal stem cells in enhancing the growth and metastasis of colon cancer is discussed. Clinical application of human follicle stem cells is presented. Treatment of malignant gliomas using genetically-modified neural stem cells as a marker is discussed. The impact of cancer stem cell hypothesis on designing new cancer therapies is explained. In the field of regenerative medicine, the use of stem cells in the repair of the central nervous system, tendon injury, and as a cardiac regenerative medicine is described. The role of DNA methylation in maintaining stemness induced pluripotent stem cells from human extraembryonic amnion cells is discussed. Insights on the understanding of molecular pathways involved in tumor biology are explained, which lead to the development of effective drugs. Information on pathways, such as hedgehog, facilitates targeted therapies in cancer.