Asbestos Cancer Update 2010

Department of Neurosurgery, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 02118, USA. zhigang.xie@bmc.org

The results of studies conducted in the past several years have suggested that malignant brain tumors may harbor a small fraction of tumor-initiating cells that are likely to cause tumor recurrence. These cells are known as brain tumor stem cells (BTSCs) because of their multilineage potential and their ability to self-renew in vitro and to recapitulate original tumors in vivo. The understanding of BTSCs has been greatly advanced by knowledge of neural progenitor/stem cells (NPSCs), which are multipotent and self-renewing precursor cells for neurons and glia. In this article, the authors summarize evidence that genetic mutations that deregulate asymmetric cell division by affecting cell polarity, spindle orientation, or cell fate determinants may result in the conversion of NPSCs to BTSCs. In addition, they review evidence that BTSCs and normal NPSCs may reside in similar vascularized microenvironments, where similar evolutionarily conserved signaling pathways control their proliferation. Finally, they discuss preliminary evidence that mechanisms of BTSC-associated infiltrativeness may be similar to those underlying the migration of NPSCs and neurons.

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Division of Neurosurgery, University of California, San Diego, USA.

Recent advances in stem cell research and developmental neurobiology have uncovered new perspectives from which to investigate various forms of cancer. Specifically, the hypothesis that tumors consist of a subpopulation of malignant cells similar to stem cells is of great interest to scientists and clinicians and has been dubbed the “cancer stem cell hypothesis.” The region in which this assertion is most relevant is within the brain. Cancer stem cells have been isolated from brain tumors that exhibit characteristics of differentiation and proliferation normally seen only in neural stem cells. These cancer stem cells may be responsible for tumor origin, survival, and proliferation. Furthermore, these cells must be considered within their immediate microenvironment when investigating mechanisms of tumorigenesis. Evidence of brain tumor stem cells is reviewed along with the role of tumor environment as the context within which these cells should be understood.

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