THE TUMOR CELL IDENTITY: A GATEWAY TO THE MOLECULAR BASIS OF MALIGNANT TRANSFORMATION

It is now well established that within a tumor mass there is a hierarchical organization, stemming from a cell subpopulation retaining the highest tumorigenic potential, referred as cancer stem cells (CSCs), responsible for tumor initiation and progression. Although recent advances in stem cell biology led to the acquisition of new view of thyroid carcinoma as a stem cell disease, the cellular origin of thyroid CSCs remains unknown. In Chapter 1 it is critically discussed the potential role of thyroid stem cells (TSCs) in light of the available information on the oncogenic role of genetic alterations underlying the thyroid carcinogenesis. Understanding the key events that regulate thyroid t…