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The hunt for cancer-initiating cells: a history stemming from leukemia

Leukemia volume 21, pages 1619–1627 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

Conventional cancer therapies are plagued by disease relapses due to incomplete eradication of cancer-initiating cells. Evidence for cancer-initiating cells originally arose from studies in hematology and leukemia. Lessons learned from hematopoietic stem cells laid the bedrock for understanding how leukemic cells self-renew and remain in immature states. Decades later, leukemia-initiating cell techniques are now being applied to the field of solid tumors such as brain, breast, bone, colon, pancreas, lung and prostate cancer, with several cancer-initiating cell efforts led by hematologists. Different isolation techniques enriching for primitive cancer-initiating cells have been developed and are described in this review. Although the concept of cancer-initiating cells arose from studies in normal tissue stem cells, differences exist between neoplastic-initiating clones and their normal counterparts. Several efforts have uncovered aberrant molecular pathways and niche interactions unique to cancer-initiating cells. Efforts to exploit these pathways and interactions could ultimately lead to complete eradication of cancers.

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  1. Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

    M P Buzzeo & C R Cogle

  2. Program in Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

    E W Scott & C R Cogle

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Buzzeo, M., Scott, E. & Cogle, C. The hunt for cancer-initiating cells: a history stemming from leukemia. Leukemia 21, 1619–1627 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.leu.2404768

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