The Stem Cell Theory Of Cancer As A Novel Therapeutic Strategy

Cancer is a disease sweeping across the world and there are many questions about how it works.How it starts and how it spreads. Cancer stem cell theory, proposes that specific stem cells similarto normal stem cells are involved in tumor. This theory can explain to a large extent about theprocess of starting, growing and expanding cancerous mass and about how a normal cell turns into acancer cell. Understanding the concept of stem cells and their function can have an impact oncancer definitive treatment. If cancer stem cells are responsible for maintaining tumor growth,then eliminating these cells can cure the patient eventually. So even many new anti-cancertherapies are in order to shrink or withdraw cancer mass and eliminate it while cancer stem cellsremain in the cancer tissue and can continue to self-renew and tumor grows again. Recentresearches have shown that compared to other cell, cancer stem cells are more resistant to chemoand radiotherapy. This could be one cause of tumor relapse after therapy. Some researcherssuggest that significant changes in DNA sequences make changes in cellular regulation and any cellin the body can undergo these changes and become a cancerous outlaw. Novel treatment methodshave been created in order to remove the cancer stem cells or induce their differentiation thatnamed differentiated treatment. These treatments are based on the idea that undifferentiatedstem cells have the ability to divide and reproduce indefinitely so if they become distinct, Theirability to grow and self-renewal will be limited. Finally the ability to remove malignant cells isprovided. Several studies concluded that, cancer stem cells arise from normal stem cells and theycan also act as a reservoir of cancer cells that may cause a relapse after surgery, radiation orchemotherapy has eliminated all observable signs of a cancer. Cancer stem cells have moreresistant to treatment than other cells. So to eliminate cancer cells, cancer stem cells should beinduced to differentiate or eliminate them completely.