The Cancer Stem Cells Research Program is based on pivotal findings on the origin and nature of cancerstem cells by Program members. The first discovery is that only a small percentage of the cancer cells,the stem cells, drive the growth and metastasis of tumors. These cells must be eliminated if the patient isto be cured. Second, cancers arise because of unregulated self-renewal, the process by which normal andneoplastic stem cells generate new cells at the same developmental stage. As self-renewal is a criticalfunction of both cancer stem cells and their normal counterparts, approaches must be found tocharacterize and differentiate these self-renewal pathways in order to make cancer stem cells tractabletherapeutic targets. The identification of the first cancer stem cells and validation of the cancer stem cellhypothesis both demand and facilitate the integration of basic research and clinical studies. Each cancerstem cell will likely have characteristics unique to the tissue of origin as well as characteristics commonto self-renewing stem cells. This Program intends to use the Cancer Center mechanism to facilitate theintegration of these important insights into cancer biology with the clinical expertise necessary totranslate them to the clinic where they will advance cancer care. To accomplish this we have assembleda large team of leading basic and clinical researchers to work together to address the following Programobjectives:1) To identify the cancer stem cell population in common cancers2) To investigate potential pathways critical for self-renewal, spread and survival of cancer stem cells3) To develop new therapies directed against cancer stem cellsThis Program is comprised of thirty-two members from ten different departments in the School ofMedicine with a total of $1.3 million in NCI funding in the last fiscal year. The program members havepublished 324 reports in the past 5 years. Of these manuscripts, 12% involved intra-programatic and17% inter-programmatic collaborations, respectively, reflecting the highly productive and collaborativenature of our members. This Program will facilitate further interactions between basic scientists andclinical scientists that will enable us to to exploit the strength of our basic science research to expediteadvances in the clinical care of cancer patients.
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