All cancer cells were once thought to be equal, but recent research suggests otherwise. A growing body of evidence indicates that only certain cancer cells are capable of generating and maintaining a tumor. Dubbed cancer stem cells, they can divide indefinitely to perpetuate the cancer over time. They may also be the reason why some therapies fail to wipe out a cancer entirely: cancer stem cells seem to be particularly resistant to standard cancer treatments and can remain behind like the roots of a weed.
If this hypothesis holds true, cancer stem cells could be the most promising target for new therapies. A team of researchers at Harvard Medical School has now developed a new way to find drugs that selectively kill cancer stem cells or prevent them from dividing. The team is currently using the method to identify drug candidates for leukemia, a disease for which cancer stem cells have been well characterized. The researchers believe the approach could eventually extend to other kinds of cancer.
Cancer stem cells were first identified in leukemia in 1994, but in the past several years, the cancer stem-cell hypothesis has gained ground as stem cells have been identified in other types of cancer, including those of the breast, prostate, brain, and pancreas. Although most scientists now agree that cancer stem cells exist, they still debate the cells' exact role in cancer.
Adapted from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Technology Review.
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