A New Hallmark of Cancer: Stemness

Abstract

cer’ often describes malignant tumors. The issue of cancerous stem cells is not a novelty but has existed for centuries. Different civilizations have handled the stem cell subject depending on the knowledge at hand. A hallmark is a distinguishing factor that separates cancers from other conditions. Hence, there have been arguments about the exclusion or inclusion criteria for the six original hallmarks. This review will introduce stemness as a new hallmark for cancer and argue why it should get included. Thus, future studies will focus on how the tumor microenvironment can get used to fight cancer. Methodology. A methodology of literature search using "stemness" as the keyword gets used in the review to avoid biasedness. Results. Stem cells can undergo physiological changes to form malignant cells. Cancer cells are in a variety of cells in the body. The microenvironment of the tumor cells promotes their progression by nourishing them. Conclusions. The results imply that stemness is the behavior of stem cells to self-renew and differentiate to form cells in all organisms. Stem cells are present in all types of hematological and solid cancers. It means that a problem in the self-renewal or differentiation process can lead to the formation of tumors or tumorigenic.