Over the past two decades cancer stem cells (CSCs) have emerged as essential players in the pathogenesis of cancer, with the capacity to initiate, maintain and repopulate different tumors. Within the tumor bulk, CSCs represent a small subpopulation, bestowed with the capacity to self-renew and yield heterogeneous lineages of cancer cells. In many scenarios, CSCs exhibit increased resistance toward irradiation and chemotherapy, and given their spectacular ability to replenish the tumor, they constitute a substantial therapeutic challenge. In this review, we provide a brief overview of the concept of CSCs and the experimental methodology utilized for identifying and isolating these unique cells. We discuss how CSCs are regulated within the tumor microenvironment as well as the role they portray in seeding fresh tumors. Finally, we explore the mechanisms that enable CSCs to evade modern therapeutic approaches and the possible strategies that can be utilized to prevent CSCs from resurrecting the disease.

在过去的二十年中，癌症干细胞（CSC）已成为癌症发病机理中的重要角色，具有启动，维持和重新分布不同肿瘤的能力。在肿瘤大块内，CSCs代表一小部分亚群，具有自我更新的能力并产生癌细胞的异质谱系。在许多情况下，CSC表现出对放射线和化学疗法的抵抗力增强，并且鉴于其强大的补充肿瘤能力，它们构成了巨大的治疗挑战。在这篇综述中，我们简要概述了CSC的概念以及用于鉴定和分离这些独特细胞的实验方法。我们讨论了如何在肿瘤微环境中调节CSC以及它们在播种新鲜肿瘤中所扮演的角色。最后，