Abstract
Cancer has cancer stem cells (CSCs) which can self-renew and produce a lot of cancer cells. CSCs are malignant cells showing resistance against usual cancer therapy and higher invasive and metastatic behaviors. Blood vessels provide a niche that supports self-renewal of stem cell populations in normal organs. This role also extends to the field of cancer biology. CSCs have been implicated in hematological and solid cancers. Identification of these cells and their niche is critical for elucidating molecular targets to inhibit their growth and to destroy their niche. For this purpose, sorting of living CSCs is required to monitor their presence in the presumptive niche in order to establish whether a CSC candidate actually shows malignant features.
