New Finding Reopens Book On Colon Cancer Stem Cells

May 27, 2008 · 94 views · Filed Under Cancer Treatment

Not all cancer cells are equal. Over the past 10 years, researchers have come to believe that cancer stem cells are scattered thinly through tumors, and that they must be destroyed to halt tumor growth.Â If even the smallest number of cancer stem cells remains, tumors can come roaring back and sometimes spread to distant organs. But the challenge for researchers has been how to find a marker that is unique to the cancer stem cells.

New research by Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) scientists underscores just how difficult it is to identify unique markers of cancer-initiating cells. The experiments show that a protein previously thought to identify only colon cancer stem cells is actually prevalent throughout primary colon tumors but absent in some cells that initiate metastatic colon cancer.

Shahin Rafii, an HHMI investigator at Weill Medical College of Cornell University, Sergey Shmelkov, and Jason Butler, who are both postdoctoral fellows in Rafii’s lab, and their Weill-Cornell colleagues publishe. The group collaborated with researchers from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals.

Full Story: New Finding Reopens Book On Colon Cancer Stem Cells
Source: Howard Hughes Medical Institute

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