セッション情報 The 2nd JSGE International Topic Conference

1)Inflammation and Hepatocellular Carcinoma

タイトル IT1-4:

Cancer Stem Cells in Hepatocarcinogenesis

演者 Yamashita Taro(Department of Gastroenterology, Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medical Science, Japan)
共同演者 Honda Masao(Department of Gastroenterology, Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medical Science, Japan), Kaneko Shuichi(Department of Gastroenterology, Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medical Science, Japan)
抄録 Carcinogenesis could be characterized as deregulated malignant organogenesis mediated by abnormally proliferating and/or metastatic cancer cells and activated stromal cells that trigger angiogenesis, fibrosis, and inflammation at site. Liver cancer development may recapitulate fetal liver development in part in terms of emergence of cells expressing certain stem cell markers and the activation of signaling pathways during the liver development. Cancer cells and stem cells have similar capacity in view of self-renewal, limitless division, and generation of heterogeneous cell population. The cancer stem cell concept, a subset of cells bearing stem cell features that is indispensable for tumor development and perpetuation, has recently been accepted by accumulating evidences. Although cancer stem cells have been identified using several stem cell markers and are now considered a pivotal target for the eradication of hepatocellular carcinoma, little information is known about the characteristics of each-marker-positive cells. Here we provide several evidences that liver CSCs defined by EpCAM and CD90 show unique features of tumorigenicity/metastasis with phenotypes closely associated with committed liver lineages, indicating that liver CSCs are not a single, static entity. The presence of CD90+ cells was associated with high incidence of distant organ metastasis within two years after surgical resection, and CD90+ CSCs showed the molecular features of vascular endothelial cells with abundant expression of c-Kit and chemosensitivity to imatinib mesylate. These data suggest that clinical outcomes of liver cancer may correlate with the presence of certain CSCs with distinct biological features.
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