Cancer stem cells in human tumours have been defined as cells that are tumourigenic and self-renew when transplanted into immunocompromised mice. It has been shown in a number of tumour types that such cancer stem cells exist at relatively low frequencies. This paper now shows that in human melanomas at least, there is a high proportion of tumourigenic cells when the conditions for such transplanation experiments are modified, casting doubt on the generality of the cancer stem cell model.
- Elsa Quintana
- Mark Shackleton
- Sean J. Morrison
