Recent studies in stem cell biology have refined our understanding of the origin and progression of cancer. Identification and characterization of endogenous neural stem cells (NSCs), especially those in the adult human brain, have inspired new ideas for selectively targeting and destroying malignant gliomas. Gliomas consist of a heterogeneous population of cells, and some of these cells have characteristics of cancer stem cells. These brain tumor stem cells (BTSCs) share certain characteristics with normal NSCs. It is still unclear, however, whether malignant gliomas in human patients originate from these aberrant BTSCs. Nonetheless, the cellular and molecular similarities between BTSCs and normal NSCs suggest a common research landscape underlying both normal and cancer stem cell biology, wherein findings of one field are relevant to the other. Furthermore, the natural tropism of NSCs to gliomas has generated the idea that modified NSCs can deliver modified genes to selectively destroy malignant brain tumor cells, and even BTSCs, while leaving healthy surrounding neurons intact. These studies and others on the basic biology of both BTSCs and NSCs will be crucial to expanding our treatment strategies for malignant gliomas.

中文翻译：

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使用神经干细胞治疗恶性胶质瘤的新策略。

干细胞生物学的最新研究提高了我们对癌症起源和进展的理解。内源性神经干细胞 (NSC)，尤其是成人大脑中的内源性神经干细胞 (NSC) 的鉴定和表征，激发了选择性靶向和破坏恶性胶质瘤的新思路。神经胶质瘤由异质性细胞群组成，其中一些细胞具有癌症干细胞的特征。这些脑肿瘤干细胞 (BTSC) 与正常 NSC 具有某些特征。然而，目前尚不清楚人类患者的恶性胶质瘤是否源自这些异常的 BTSC。尽管如此，BTSCs 和正常 NSCs 之间的细胞和分子相似性表明正常和癌症干细胞生物学的共同研究领域，其中一个领域的发现与另一个相关。此外，NSCs 对神经胶质瘤的天然趋向性产生了这样一种观点，即修饰的 NSCs 可以传递修饰的基因来选择性地破坏恶性脑肿瘤细胞，甚至 BTSCs，同时保持周围健康的神经元完好无损。这些关于 BTSC 和 NSC 基础生物学的研究和其他研究对于扩大我们对恶性胶质瘤的治疗策略至关重要。