Exploiting the Weakness of Cancer Cells

Neurobiologists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have identified a new possible approach to treating cancer. By comparing cancer stem cells to noncancerous stem cells, researchers determined that neural tissue precursors are mostly located in areas that contain many blood vessels. The endothelial cells that line the blood vessels secrete a chemical that facilitates cell survival. After analyzing human brain tumors, researchers ffound that cancer stem cell work in the same manner. By cutting off the capillary blood supply, there is a significant drop in cancer stem cells and in the growth of the cancerous tumor. This is an extremely exciting research opportunity because if applied as the new approach to treating cancer patients, it would spare the damage to health cells since it halts the source of growth.

http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2007/116/2