Abstract:
Current first-line chemotherapy generally consists of cytotoxic agents. While these agents
may initially control disease by effectively debulking tumors, the tumors invariably recur due to
the ability of cancer stem cells (CSCs) to survive and repopulate the tumor mass. To identify
potential molecular targets in 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) refractory colon CSCs, we developed
5-FU resistant cell lines over a period of a year. Here we show that 5-FU maintains colon
CSCs in an undifferentiated state in vitro.