Cancer Stem Cells: From Bench to Bedside

Objective clinical responses to anticancer treatments often do not translate into substantial improvements in overall survival. Recent data suggesting many cancers arise from rare self-renewing cells (cancer stem cells) that are biologically distinct from their more numerous differentiated progeny may explain this paradox. Current anticancer therapies have been developed to target the bulk of the tumor mass (ie, the differentiated cancer cells). Although treatments directed against the bulk of the cancer may produce dramatic responses, they are unlikely to result in long-term remissions if the rare cancer stem cells are also not targeted. Better understanding the biology of cancer stem cells and re-examining our preclinical and clinical drug development paradigms to include the cancer stem cell concept have the potential to revolutionize the treatment of many cancers.