Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Research Highlight
  • Published:

Tumour stem cells

Generating colon cancer

Nature Reviews Cancer volume 6, page 907 (2006)Cite this article

One model of tumour growth proposes that tumours are hierarchically organized, wherein only a subset of cells, the so-called cancer stem cells (CSCs), are able to initiate and propagate tumour development. An opposing model suggests that every cell within a tumour has the capacity to initiate and sustain tumour growth. John Dick and colleagues now show that CSCs exist in colon cancer.

The CSC model is also applicable to the development of brain and prostate cancers, for which the CSC fraction has been shown to overexpress the antigen CD133. Therefore, the authors fractionated the colon cancer cells according to CD133 overexpression before injecting them into the mice. Only the CD133-overexpressing (CD133+) fraction was able to significantly induce tumours. Similarly, only the CD133+ fractions from the xenografts were able to generate tumours in secondary and tertiary recipients. Moreover, the CC-ICs within the CD133+ fraction had the capacity to re-establish the patterns of differentiation and CD133 expression of the tumour, which indicates that CD133− cells are derived from CD133+ cells. Limiting-dilution analysis was used to determine that the CC-ICs were enriched 216-fold within the CD133+ fraction compared with the unfractionated cell samples.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPERS

  1. O'Brien, C. et al. Identification of a human colon cancer cell capable of initiating tumour growth in immunodeficient mice. Nature 19 November 2006 (doi: 10.1038/nature05372)

  2. Ricci-Vitiani, L. et al. Identification and expansion of human colon-cancer-initiating cells. Nature 19 November 2006 (doi: 10.1038/nature05384)

Download references

Authors
  1. Gemma Alderton
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Alderton, G. Generating colon cancer. Nat Rev Cancer 6, 907 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc2040

Download citation

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc2040

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing