Visualization of gastric cancer stem cells and identificaton of an effective therapeutic treatment using the organoid culture system

Gastric cancer is a complex disease that often arises in a setting of chronic inflammation. Cancer stem cells are defined as the unique subpopulation in the tumors that possess the ability to initiate tumor growth and sustain self-renewal as well as metastatic potential. The goal of this study is to functionally evaluate tumor-resident Lgr5-expressing cells at different stages of the carcinogenic process as candidate cancer stem cells using in vivo ablation, lineage tracing and ex vivo culture/transplantation assays.