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  • Cancer stem cells

    Melanoma-Initiating Cell Identified
    http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0630132754.htm
    STANFORD, Calif. — Scientists at the School of Medicine have identified a cancer-initiating cell in human melanomas. The finding is significant because the existence of such a cell in the aggressive skin cancer has been a source of debate. It may also explain why current immunotherapies are largely unsuccessful in preventing disease recurrence in human patients.

    “These cells lack the traditional melanoma cell surface markers targeted by these treatments,” said post-doctoral fellow Alexander Boiko, PhD. “Without wiping out the cells at the root of the cancer, the treatment will fail.”

    Boiko is the first author of the research, published in the July 1 issue of Nature. He works in the laboratory of Irving Weissman, MD, the director of Stanford’s Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine. Weissman is the medical school’s Virginia & D.K. Ludwig Professor for Clinical Investigation in Cancer Research and the senior author of the research. He is also a member of the Stanford Cancer Center.

    The cancer stem cell theory holds that, like queen bees in a hive, only a subset of cancer cells are at the root of the tumor’s growth. These cells can both self-renew (that is, make more of themselves) and differentiate into other tumor cell types.
    Last edited by admin; July 2, 2010, 03:55 PM. Reason: Excerpt and link.
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