Development of cancer-initiating cells and immortalized cells with genomic instability

Figure 2 Model of cancer-initiating cell development. A: In normal tissues, stem cells are maintained in a specific niche and the niche environment is important both for stem cell maintenance and organ homeostasis; B: Niche disruption deranges the differentiation environment of stem cells, leading to the accumulation of DNA lesions and the induction of cellular senescence. Such DNA lesions trigger genomic destabilization, leading to the development of benign tumors that contain a small number of C: Pluripotent cells that eventually develop into; D: Cancer-initiating cells (CICs) that cause malignancies.