Scientists have discovered a new type of cell that appears to play a role in the development of cancer -- a highly volatile, precancerous stem cell that can either remain benign or become malignant, depending upon environmental cues. The finding may help define the role of cancer stem cells in the growth and recurrence of the disease as well as offer new options for cancer prevention, detection and treatment.
Current cancer stem cell theory holds that tumors are comprised of a variety of cell types. Among them is a small subset of rather primitive cells that, like other stem cells in the body, are self-sustaining, self-renewing and multipotent, or capable of creating other types of cells and tissues. These cells are different from normal stem cells, however, in that injecting even as few as 100 of them into laboratory animals will cause cancer. Scientists have dubbed these cancer stem cells.
Cancer stem cells were first identified in leukemia, but they have also been found in breast, brain, colon and prostate cancers. Because they are rather unstable, they are notoriously tricky to isolate and describe. They are also resistant to virtually any kind of treatment, and some scientists believe they are the reason cancer recurs. Until now, no one has known how they arise.
But a team of scientists, led by Dr. Jian-Xin Gao, a researcher in the department of pathology at Ohio State University Medical Center, has identified a new set of cells he calls precancerous stem cells (pCSCs)....
Whole article: "www.sciencedaily.com":[ http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070314093323.htm]
Scientists find new stemcell source -
Scientists in Scotland say they've discovered a way to harvest stem cells from non-viable embryos (22.6.2007)
Reversing cancer cells to normal cells -
A Northwestern University scientist describes new research that used an innovative experimental approach to provide unique insights into how scientists can change human metastatic melanoma cells back to normal-like skin cells -- by exposing the tumor cells to the embryonic microenvironment of human embryonic stem cells, the zebra fish and the chick embryo (30.4.2007)
Cheap molecule may attack tumors -
A cheaply-produced molecule may be the key to treating a variety of cancers, claim Canadian researchers (23.4.2007)
Genes Associated With Adverse Reactions To Cancer Radiotherapy Treatment Identified -
Medical scientists at the University of Leicester have announced a potentially unique advance in breast cancer research by identifying two genes associated with adverse reaction to cancer treatment (21.4.2007)
Cell Biology: New Connection Between Cancer and Sugars -
Every cell in the human body is controlled by signaling networks that are responsive to external stimuli (11.4.2007)
