Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Stem Cells are the Key to Cancer
This article in Time magazine provides a layman's view into a new theory of cancer. In this new theory, at the heart of each cancer is a set of stem cells gone awry. Their genome or even just their gene expression dysfunctionally proliferates - creating lots of abberant daughter cells that reproduce too quickly and additional bad stem cells. It's the stem cells that are responsible for mestasisis - the spread of cancer throughout the body.
This discovery is likely to lead, finally, to the cure. It's the stem cells that need to be killed or reformed. The daughter cells are annoying, but not the real problem. It's become apparent that removing the daughter cells - for instance, by shrinking them with radiation - is not enough to cure the cancer. You have to get the stem cells. The Time article predicts a real cure for cancer in 10 years. I would agree with that assessment.
My prediction would be that all cancers are stem cell disorders. Our bodies are sprinkled with stem cells. They are more key to life than people still realize. For instance, until recently, it was believed that all the eggs in a woman's ovaries were there when you were born. They would ripen or die until they ran out and women would go into menopause. Instead, stem cells continually produce eggs throughout a woman's fertile years. They last less than a year. At menopause, the stem cells quit making them and the supply runs out. Do the stem cells die - or just turn off? I don't know. If hormone therapy can cause menopausal women to become fertile again, it would seem that they are just turned off.
Here's a case where medicine has struggled for 30 years, spending billions of dollars in a "War on Cancer". Very little progress was made - really - using conventional disease treatment. Now, this new paradigm will revolutionize treatment. At first, they will be looking for conventional therapy methods that more effectively target the stem cells. But, given a better understanding of gene expression, I predict that they will be able to "turn off" cancer by sending it signals or using gene therapy - a gentler approach. Look for the day when cancer is a thing of the past - a wonderful day for medicine.
This article in Time magazine provides a layman's view into a new theory of cancer. In this new theory, at the heart of each cancer is a set of stem cells gone awry. Their genome or even just their gene expression dysfunctionally proliferates - creating lots of abberant daughter cells that reproduce too quickly and additional bad stem cells. It's the stem cells that are responsible for mestasisis - the spread of cancer throughout the body.
This discovery is likely to lead, finally, to the cure. It's the stem cells that need to be killed or reformed. The daughter cells are annoying, but not the real problem. It's become apparent that removing the daughter cells - for instance, by shrinking them with radiation - is not enough to cure the cancer. You have to get the stem cells. The Time article predicts a real cure for cancer in 10 years. I would agree with that assessment.
My prediction would be that all cancers are stem cell disorders. Our bodies are sprinkled with stem cells. They are more key to life than people still realize. For instance, until recently, it was believed that all the eggs in a woman's ovaries were there when you were born. They would ripen or die until they ran out and women would go into menopause. Instead, stem cells continually produce eggs throughout a woman's fertile years. They last less than a year. At menopause, the stem cells quit making them and the supply runs out. Do the stem cells die - or just turn off? I don't know. If hormone therapy can cause menopausal women to become fertile again, it would seem that they are just turned off.
Here's a case where medicine has struggled for 30 years, spending billions of dollars in a "War on Cancer". Very little progress was made - really - using conventional disease treatment. Now, this new paradigm will revolutionize treatment. At first, they will be looking for conventional therapy methods that more effectively target the stem cells. But, given a better understanding of gene expression, I predict that they will be able to "turn off" cancer by sending it signals or using gene therapy - a gentler approach. Look for the day when cancer is a thing of the past - a wonderful day for medicine.
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