Stem Cells and Cancer Stem Cells: Similarities and Differences

Dear Colleagues,

From the standpoint of safely targeting CSCs, it appears that the similarities between normal adult SSCs and CSCs far outweigh the differences between them. This is not all that surprising, in that CSCs likely arise from SSCs in many instances. Importantly, by the definition of “stemness,” they both have the ability to self-renew and also proceed on to more differentiated cell types. CSCs express similar “stemness” markers and exhibit cellular behaviors highly reminiscent of SSCs. Long-lived quiescent SSCs infrequently enter the cell cycle to maintain homeostasis, but more frequently upon injury to repair damaged tissue. This process seems to be degraded with aging.

Similarly, CSCs appear to reside in similar niches to SSCs and in fact can compete with one another for the limited space within the niche. The same signaling pathways involved in regulating SSC maintenance (i.e., Wnt, Notch, Hedeghog, TGFβ/BMP, JAK/Stat, Hippo, FGF/MAPK/PI3K) are also involved in the regulation of CSCs. Aberrant regulation of these same pathways leads to neoplastic proliferation in the same tissues.

The focus of this review will be on the fundamental similarities and differences between normal adult SSCs and CSCs and how we may be able to safely target defective stem cells/cancer stem cells.

Prof. Dr. Michael Kahn
Prof. Dr. Yoichi Furukawa
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Cancers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.