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Melanoma Stem Cells: The Dark Seed of Melanoma

Susan E. Zabierowski, Meenhard Herlyn

From The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, PA

Corresponding author: Meenhard Herlyn, DVM, DSc, The Wistar Institute, 3601 Spruce St, Philadelphia, PA 19104; e-mail: herlynm{at}wistar.org

Cells with stem-cell markers and features have recently been identified in melanoma tissues and cell lines. Melanoma stem-like cells possess many traits of tumor-initiating or tumor stem cells including self-renewal capacity, high tumorigenicity, and differentiation into various mesenchymal lineages, including melanocytic cells. Four subpopulations of melanoma-initiating cells have been distinguished: CD20⁺, CD133⁺, label-retaining or slow-cycling cells, and side-population cells with high efflux activities. Whether these are distinct or overlapping populations is currently under investigation. Ongoing studies are dissecting and characterizing the hierarchy of these subpopulations within a malignant lesion. Understanding these and the dynamics of clonal dominance will aid in the development of novel therapeutic strategies.

Authors’ disclosures of potential conflicts of interest and author contributions are found at the end of this article.