Leukemia Stem Cells: Concept and Implications

Only 10 years ago, the existence of cancer stem cells (CSCs) was still hotly debated. Even today, when their presence in most tumor types has been clearly demonstrated, all the consequences of their existence are far from being realized neither in the clinic nor, very often, in basic and translational cancer research. The existence of CSCs supposes a true change of paradigm in our understanding of cancer, but it will only have a real impact when we will properly assimilate its implications and apply these insights to both cancer research and cancer treatment. In this primer to the topic of leukemia stem cells (LSCs) our aim is to highlight with broad brushstrokes the most relevant of their properties, how these characteristics led to their identification, and the implications that the existence of LSCs has for the research and fight against leukemia.Research at CC’s laboratory was partially supported by FEDER, EU, MINECO (SAF2017-83061-R), the “Fundación Ramón Areces,” a Research Contract with the “Fundación Síndrome de Wolf-Hirschhorn o 4p-,” and institutional grants from the “Fundación Ramón Areces” and “Banco de Santander” to the CBMSO. Research in ISG group is partially supported by FEDER and by SAF2015-64420-R MINECO/FEDER, UE, RTI2018-093314-B-I00 MCIU/AEI/FEDER,UE, by Junta de Castilla y León (UIC-017, CSI001U16, and CSI234P18), by The German Carreras Foundation (DJCLS 02R/2016 and DJCLS 07R_2019), by the German Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS)-Germany (FKZ: 3618S32274), and by the Fundacion Unoentrecienmil (CUNINA project). ISG lab is a member of the EuroSyStem and the DECIDE Network funded by the European Union under the FP7 program