Fig. 1
From: Differences and similarities between cancer and somatic stem cells: therapeutic implications
Role of environmental milieu and chronic inflammation in CSC maintenance. When epithelial cells are exposed to stressors such as radiation, oxidative stress, chronic inflammation, or changes in its environmental milieu, mutations in DNA can occur. While stem cells can mutate directly into CSCs, epithelial cells require a two-step process: first, the initial stress causes it to mutate into a cancer cell; then, it can undergo epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) to become a cancer stem cell capable of metastasis