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Post-identification of Cancer Stem Cell: Ethical and Scientific Dilemmas in Therapeutic Development?

Pranela Rameshwar

Any discussion on cancer biology, directly or indirectly, includes stem cells, in particular, tumor initiating cells and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Also, of importance are tissue-specific stem cells since these cells could be the source of the original tumor. The existence of cancer stem cells is mostly accepted by the scientific community [1,2]. The future of this field, however, could be a problem, depending on how academia, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies use the information towards cancer eradication. Scientists in academia are focused on the basic science to identify the hierarchy of cancer cell subsets; biotechnology is also involved in the basic science, but these companies are mindful of commercial benefits. Pharmaceutical companies, on the other hand, are interested in targeting the cancer cells to achieve cell death. While, on the surface this seems to be ideal, it could also be a dilemma for targeting cancer stem cells.