Molecular Oncology
Volume 4, Issue 5 , Pages 397-403, October 2010

Cell of origin of lung cancer

  • Kate D. Sutherland

      Affiliations

    • Tel.: +31 20 512 1784; fax: +31 20 512 2011.
    • ,
  • Anton Berns

      Affiliations

    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Tel.: +31 20 512 1991; fax: +31 20 512 2011.

Division of Molecular Genetics and Centre for Biomedical Genetics, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Plesmanlaan 121, 1066 CX Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Received 15 April 2010; received in revised form 25 May 2010; accepted 31 May 2010. published online 14 June 2010.

Abstract 

Lung cancer is a devastating disease and a major therapeutic burden with poor survival rates. The discovery of rare cells with stem cell-like properties in solid tumours is emerging as an important area of cancer research and may help explain the resistance of these tumours to current therapeutics. Despite rapid developments in cancer stem cell research in other solid tumours, progress in the lung has been hampered by an incomplete understanding of the epithelial stem cell hierarchy, the heterogeneity of disease and the lack of a suitable in vivo transplantation model to assess stem cell behaviour. In this review we critically discuss what is currently known about the role of normal stem cells and cancer-initiating cells in lung tumour development, and briefly discuss strategies aimed at advancing the field of lung stem cell biology, with an emphasis on the design and manipulation of state-of-art mouse models.

Keywords: Lung cancer, Stem cells, Progenitor cells, Cancer-initiating cells

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PII: S1574-7891(10)00035-9

doi:10.1016/j.molonc.2010.05.002

Molecular Oncology
Volume 4, Issue 5 , Pages 397-403, October 2010

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