Cancer Stem Cells or Tumor Survival Cells?

Abstract

Research endeavors originally generated stem cell definitions for the purpose of describing normally sustainable developmental and tissue turnover processes in various species, including humans. The notion of investigating cells that possess a vague capacity of “stamm (phylum)” can be traced back to the late 19th century, mainly concentrating on cells that could produce the germline or the entire blood system. Lately, such undertakings have been recapitulated for oncogenesis, tumor growth, and cancer cell resistance to oncolytic therapies. However, due to the complexity and basic life-origin mechanisms comprising the genetic and epigenetic repertoire of the stemness in every developing or growing cell, presently there are ongoing debates regarding the biological essentials of the stem cell-like tumor initiation cells (ie, cancer stem cells; CSCs). This conceptual analysis focuses on the potential pitfalls of extrapolating that CSCs bear major traits of stemness. We propose a novel nomenclature of Tumor Survival Cells (TSCs) to further define tumor cells behaving like CSCs, based on the ruthless and detrimental features of Cancer Cell Survivology that appears fundamentally different from stem cell biology. Hence, precise academic separation of TSCs from all the stem cell-related labels applied to these unique tumor cells may help to improve scientific reasoning and strategies to decode the desperado-like survival behaviors of TSCs to eventually overcome cancer.

High‐dimensional single‐cell proteomics analysis reveals the landscape of immune cells and stem‐like cells in renal tumors

“…Increasing evidence suggests that a subset of cancer cells with stem cell‐like properties, known as CSCs, are capable of self‐renewal and differentiation . Although CSCs have been determined using a variety of surface markers, their isolation from different types of tumors might require different markers . Many studies have attempted to establish a unique individual biomarker to identify the CSCs populations in renal tumors .…”

Isolation of cancer stem cells by selection for miR-302 expressing cells

“…CSCs are an essential factor in cancer relapse (Teng et al, 2018) and an obvious target for cancer treatment (Cianciosi et al, 2018). However, our knowledge about CSCs is limited due to the inherited difficulty to obtain pure populations of theses cells.…”

“…This definition signaled a paradigm change because it linked tumor heterogeneity to the existence of multipotent CSCs and not to secondary mutations. CSCs are known as tumor survival cells since they fuel and support the tumor to grow and develop (Teng, Wang, Kabatas, Ulrich, & Zafonte, 2018). The importance of CSCs for cancer treatment has long been controversial however, CSCs are more and more recognized as the origin of therapy resistance and tumor relapse (Li, Tiede, Massagué, & Kang, 2007).…”

“…Stem cells markers are gene products that are predominantly or exclusively expressed in stem cells. CSC markers might be tumor type specific and different markers have been reported for particular type of cancers (Teng et al, 2018). Cell surface markers have been widely explored as stem cell markers because they are very suitable for FACS isolation of small stem cell populations.…”

Targeted Breast Cancer Treatment Using New Photochemotherapeutic Compounds

“…Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are potential effectors of self-renewal, proliferation, and differentiation and play crucial roles in cancer survival and recurrence [51]. The necessity for cancer stem-cell therapy for breast cancer is justified by the recognition of stem cells in normal as well as in malignant tissues of the breast.…”