Isolation and identification of cancer stem cells from a side population of a human hepatoblastoma cell line, HuH-6 clone-5

Purpose It has been thought that the persistence of even a small number of tumor cells in the body may increase each tumor cell in a similar manner and may allow the disease to proceed. However, only a few percent of such tumor cells exist in cancerous tissue. They are called “cancer stem cells (CSCs)”. If an alternative method of annihilating CSCs is found, it will greatly deter relapse and metastasis. We attempted to identify and separate CSCs in hepatoblastoma aiming to develop a new therapy for hepatoblastoma. Methods The side population (SP) method was used as an indicator when extracting the CSC candidate group from the hepatoblastoma cells. The SP cells and non-SP cells were studied for tumourigenesis. Results Although tumors were formed when SP fraction cells were inoculated into mice, tumor formation was not observed in non-SP cells. SP cells had higher tumor formation ability compared to non-SP cells. Conclusion Cancer stem-like cells were separated by the SP fraction method from hepatoblastoma cells. The in vivo experiment proved that SP fraction cells inoculated into mice were self-replicated, and the existence of cancer stem-like cells was identified.