Dynamism, Sensitivity, and Consequences of Mesenchymal and Stem-Like Phenotype of Cancer Cells

Figure 1

Cancer stem cells versus mesenchymal cancer cells. There are remarkable similarities in the properties of CSCs and cancer cells with mesenchymal phenotype, which oppose from characteristics of non-CSCs and epithelial cancer cells, respectively. Both are highly invasive, tumorigenic, resistant against common anticancer treatment, and thought to cause metastatic growth. Both cell types share several cell markers. Besides, both phenotypes are reversible and can be interchanged via EMT or CSC phenotype interconversion.