| Summary: | The fifth volume in the essential series on stem cell biology provides a detailed explanation of the mechanisms of self-renewing cancer stem cells, as well as their ability to generate the heterogeneous lineages of cancer cells that comprise tumors. It explores the unique resistance of cancer stem cells to conventional chemotherapy techniques able to kill a tumor’s constituent cells. The contents also include a discussion of the myriad applications of a selection of stem cells in treating disease and tissue injury. The cells singled out include human mesenchymal, arterial, neural, cardiac, dental, limbal, and hematopoietic stem cells. The therapeutic utility of uniquely adaptable human embryonic stem cells, able to generate any human cell type, is explored in depth. The volume looks at their uses in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, as well as pharmacological, toxicological, and cell differentiation research. It also sheds light on the processes by which embryonic stem cells begin to differentiate by aggregating into more complex embryoid bodies. With additional material on targeting self-renewal pathways in cancer stem cells, the use of mesenchymal stem cells in treating ischemic brain injury, and the phenomenon of neural stem cell proliferation around traumatic brain injuries, this richly diverse and hugely informative book is a powerful tool for deepening professional expertise among researchers and practitioners in this field
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