Cancer stem cells in oncology

Abstract

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) possess several characteristics including self-renewal, pluripotency and tumorigenicity and constitute a rare population in a tumor mass. Because conventional cancer therapies can not kill CSCs, these cells are responsible for tumor relapse and metastasis. Currently, with advances in the identification of CSCs, the importance of these cells is increasing in the field of cancer diagnosis and prognosis. In addition, clarifying the mechanisms responsible for the maintenance of CSCs properties led to the development of CSC-targeted therapies.