Ira Steinberg - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Ira Steinberg

Seminars in Oncology, 2015

Despite the advancement of treatment modalities, many cancer patients experience tumor recurrence... more Despite the advancement of treatment modalities, many cancer patients experience tumor recurrence and metastasis at regional or distant sites. Evolving understanding of tumor biology has led to the hypothesis that tumors may possess a stem cell-like subpopulation known as cancer stem cells (CSCs) that may be involved in driving tumor propagation and pathogenesis. Like normal stem cells (NSCs), CSCs can be identified by markers such as CD133, CD44, and ALDH. CSCs have the ability to self-renew and differentiate into different tumor components through stemness pathways, such as Wnt, TGF-β, STAT and YAP, among others. In NSCs, stemness pathways are strictly regulated and control many important biologic processes, including embryogenesis and intestinal crypt cellular regulation. In contrast, stemness pathways in CSCs are significantly dysregulated. Combining current drugs with the targeting of these stemness pathways may significantly improve patient prognosis. The aim of this supplement is to update clinicians on the accumulated evidence characterizing the role of CSCs in tumor initiation, heterogeneity, therapy resistance, and recurrence and metastasis, and the potential for effectively treating patients.

Seminars in Oncology, 2015

Despite the advancement of treatment modalities, many cancer patients experience tumor recurrence... more Despite the advancement of treatment modalities, many cancer patients experience tumor recurrence and metastasis at regional or distant sites. Evolving understanding of tumor biology has led to the hypothesis that tumors may possess a stem cell-like subpopulation known as cancer stem cells (CSCs) that may be involved in driving tumor propagation and pathogenesis. Like normal stem cells (NSCs), CSCs can be identified by markers such as CD133, CD44, and ALDH. CSCs have the ability to self-renew and differentiate into different tumor components through stemness pathways, such as Wnt, TGF-β, STAT and YAP, among others. In NSCs, stemness pathways are strictly regulated and control many important biologic processes, including embryogenesis and intestinal crypt cellular regulation. In contrast, stemness pathways in CSCs are significantly dysregulated. Combining current drugs with the targeting of these stemness pathways may significantly improve patient prognosis. The aim of this supplement is to update clinicians on the accumulated evidence characterizing the role of CSCs in tumor initiation, heterogeneity, therapy resistance, and recurrence and metastasis, and the potential for effectively treating patients.