Fig. 2. Cellular reprogramming of cancer and somatic cells.

a Cancer cells isolated from patients can be reprogrammed into iPS cells using the Yamanaka factors (OSKM). Thereafter, cancer-derived iPS cells can be differentiated into diverse relevant cell types for studying progression of the disease. The drawing exemplifies how cancer cell-derived iPS cells can be used to study tumor specification, develop in vitro cancer models and testing of novel potential targets for therapy. b Cancer patients carrying familial cancer predisposition mutations can be useful for understanding onset and tissue specificity of the disease. Somatic cells can be used for reprogramming into iPS cells that can be differentiated into any relevant cell type. This permits the development of in vitro and in vivo systems for modelling disease and use for potential identification of therapeutic targets. iPS induced pluripotent stem, OSKM Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc transcription factors