Medical Position Statement on Cancer Stem Cell Research and Its Implications for Treating GI Cancers
Stem cells are defined by their capacity for self-renewal and their ability to give rise to different cell lineages, express telomeric activity and participate in tissue regeneration. As a result, their biological roles in digestive tract epithelia are of critical importance given the wide prevalence of gastrointestinal diseases and disorders. Nowhere is this more evident than in gastrointestinal cancers arising from the esophagus, stomach, colon, pancreas and liver. Cancer stem cells are thought to represent a small subpopulation of tumor cells. Experimentally, they can give rise to serially transplantable tumors in immunodeficient mice. Indeed, there is now appreciation that a single cancer stem cell can yield a tumor under these experimental conditions. It is also believed that cancer stem cells have intrinsic resistance to traditional cytotoxic chemotherapy. Strategies have recently been developed to identify GI cancer stem cells. Because of these recent advances, cancer stem cells have emerged as particularly attractive therapeutic targets given the dismal prognosis of most GI cancers treated with current therapies. The ability to potentially target cancer stem cells with innovative molecular and pathway-targeted therapeutics holds great promise.
Significantly more research will be required to understand the biology of GI cancer stem cells and then to apply this information to improve outcomes for patients with GI cancers. The AGA strongly encourages this research and is hopeful it can lead to improved therapies.
AGA Institute Research Policy Committee June, 2008
