Cancer stem cell theory: pathologists’ considerations and ruminations about wasting time and wrong evaluations
- 1Fimo-Firc Institute of Molecular Pathology, Via Adamello 16, Milano 20139, Italy; nuciforo@ifom-firc.it
- 2Azienda Ospedaliera Cannizzaro, Via Messina, 829, Catania 95126, Italy
The genomic revolution has changed the role of the pathologist. In daily practice, our work is no longer limited to reaching a correct diagnosis and we are asked to answer questions about the patient’s prognosis and treatment options through the evaluation of selected molecular targets (such as erbB2 for breast cancer) in tumour specimens. Thus, we have acquired a major role in the translation of novel gene findings from experimental model systems to their clinical application.
There is overwhelming evidence that only a subset of cells within a tumour clone, …
