Open AccessCell of origin of lung cancer
Author(s) -
Jennifer M. Hanna,
Mark Onaitis
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of carcinogenesis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.771
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 0974-6773
pISSN - 1477-3163
DOI - 10.4103/1477-3163.109033
Subject(s) - stem cell , cancer stem cell , lung cancer , medicine , cancer , progenitor cell , cancer research , cancer cell , disease , transplantation , pathology , immunology , biology , microbiology and biotechnology
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, and current therapies are disappointing. Elucidation of the cell(s) of origin of lung cancer may lead to new therapeutics. In addition, the discovery of putative cancer-initiating cells with stem cell properties in solid tumors has emerged as an important area of cancer research that may explain the resistance of these tumors to currently available therapeutics. Progress in our understanding of normal tissue stem cells, tumor cell of origin, and cancer stem cells has been hampered by the heterogeneity of the disease, the lack of good in vivo transplantation models to assess stem cell behavior, and an overall incomplete understanding of the epithelial stem cell hierarchy. As such, a systematic computerized literature search of the MEDLINE database was used to identify articles discussing current knowledge about normal lung and lung cancer stem cells or progenitor cells. In this review, we discuss what is currently known about the role of cancer-initiating cells and normal stem cells in the development of lung tumors