Brain tumor stem cells: view from cell proliferation

Department of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200040, P.R. China

Received 8 September 2008; accepted 22 September 2008.

Ying Mao et al from Shanghai, China, have written a very important review on the present status of the stem cell origin of brain tumors. Their fundamental hypothesis is that brain tumors arise from stem cells and then differentiate into differentiated cells, such as astrocytes or oligodendroglia cells, yet a small number of stem cells remain, which continue to produce the differentiated cells that make up the tumor. Treating the differentiated cells will not cure the tumor, so the attack has to be on the stem cells. They describe that the stem cells contain a population of cells that have a molecular marker on their surface called CD133. These tumorigenic cells are resistant to radiation therapy and chemotherapy. The difference between the regular NSCs and the TSCs is that the TSCs have a longer life of uninhibited growth compared to the NSCs that develop the normal nervous system. The hypothesis suggests that the TSC is a dysregulated form of a NSC, and thus, produces a tumor. The authors also found these tumor stem-like cells in pituitary tumors; however, these tumor cells are only dividing at a slow rate—perhaps explaining the slower growth of the pituitary adenomas. We are getting closer each day to the cause for brain tumors and the molecular mechanisms that activate these tumors to grow. Also, this information is important to develop therapies aimed at the NSCs that are specific for these cells and their pathways to differentiation. James I. Ausman, MD, PhD, Editor

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