The “Side-Population” of Human Lymphoma Cells Have Increased Chemo-Resistance, Stem-Cell Like Properties and Are Potential Targets for Immunotherapy

We have previously demonstrated that hematological malignancies contain a distinct “side-population” (SP), which is characterized by the active transport of Hoechst fluorescent dye. The mechanisms responsible for Hoechst efflux also contribute to resistance of the SP to chemotherapy. This population has also been shown to be enriched for tumor initiating cells in several human cancer models. We hypothesize that targeting the cancer “SP” cells using immunotherapy may prevent relapse by eliminating the cell population that: