The long-term goal of our research is to understand the molecular mechanisms involved in microenvironmental regulation of cancer progression. Chronic inflammation is a predisposing cause of various cancers. Importantly, inflammation is present in every tumor, including those that are not developed from chronic inflammation. The inflammatory microenvironment is an essential component that drives tumor progression and has been suggested as the seventh hallmark of cancer. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a subpopulation of tumor cells with the ability to undergo self-renewal and recapitulate the entire tumor population. In addition, CSCs have the ability to initiate distant metastasis to form metastatic growth that resemble the primary tumors, and are resistant to conventional chemotherapy/radiotherapy, implicating that they are responsible for tumor growth and recurrence.
