|
| Cancer epithelial cells | CSCs |
|
| Noninvasive with limited self-renewal potential and usually divide with a finite replicative capacity [24] | Invasive, migratory properties. CSCs exhibit self-renewal capabilities, allowing them to give rise to both identical CSCs and differentiated cancer cells, contributing to tumor perpetuation [25] |
|
| Typically more differentiated and closely resemble mature cell types [26]. They often form the bulk of the tumor | Less differentiated and exhibit properties akin to stem cells. They can differentiate into various cell types found within the tumor [25] |
|
| Cell polarity often responsible for initiating the tumor. They are derived from CSCs or non-CSC tumor cells [27]. | CSCs have the unique ability to initiate tumor growth when transplanted into animal models, and they are considered the “seeds” of the tumor [28] |
|
| High expression of cell adhesion molecules [29] | Low (focal point) adhesion [30] |
|
| They usually display limited heterogeneity and represent the dominant, mature cell population within the tumor [31] | CSCs contribute to intratumoral heterogeneity by giving rise to both CSCs and differentiated cancer cells, resulting in a diverse cell population [32] |
|
| Nonmotile [33] | Highly mobile with stem cell-like behavior [25] |
|
| TGFβ can lead to epithelial mesenchymal transition, promote metastasis and invasion [27]. Hence it can count as biomarker | CSCs express distinctive stem cell markers, including CD44, CD133, and specific transcription factors (e.g., OCT4, SOX2, NANOG), associated with pluripotency and self-renewal [34] |
|
