theglobeandmail.com — The Globe and Mail reports that cancers have at their core a small number of stem cells, without which they cannot spread or reoccur. From the article: A spate of new discoveries about the basic biology of cancer is pushing researchers toward an astonishing conclusion: For decades, efforts to cure the disease may have targeted the wrong cells.
Nov 21, 2006 View in Crawl 4
carpefishemNov 22, 2006
I'm just sayin', I haven't seen it happen in any adult stem-cell treatments, several of which are already being used on humans.
pipedreambombNov 22, 2006
In a word: that's right.
sfmobiusNov 22, 2006
I lost both my parents and several of my Aunts/Uncles to cancer. I hope this "new discovery" turns into applicable treatment. It sounds promising. I'm just suprised it has taken us this long to make the connection.
moopyNov 22, 2006
Cancer cells naturally die through apoptosis, and you're DNA automatically corrects and fixes itself. That is, if you body isn't too busy and stressed out with other things like acid and lack of sleep.
danmcscienceNov 22, 2006
Two things:1) Does anyone have a link to the actual Nature paper? I looked for it yesterday and I couldn't find it. I'm usually able to find papers when I want em....2) Just to clairify, cancerous cells can arise from many different causes, including viruses, stem cells gone wrong and differentiated gone wrong. The point is that there are different types of cancer cells in a tumor (which isn't news), and that there are cancerous stem cells in colorectal cancer (which is news).
47f0Nov 22, 2006
One crucial problem is that there is no "Cancer" with a capital "C" - cancer is defined by the end results - the unregulated growth and spread of tissue. But the underlying causes are varied.It's a little like deciding we are going to eliminate automobile collisions. So we lower the speed limit. But we still have collisions. So we ban cell phones. But we still have collisions. We put up barriers on highway medians... and so on.It seems unlikely that there will ever be "A" cure for cancer, and it's naive to assume that addressing the end results, which is where our medicine is today, will eliminate the causes. It seems much more likely that we will have multiple cures for the multiple underlying causes.Your father has my best wishes. Having had a kid with cancer, I have to say that sheer attitude can also play a vital role in cure. Tell him to keep his chin up.
savagepandaNov 22, 2006
It is ironic that Stem Cells, the genesis of life as we know it, may eventually forsake their design to take their hand in the destruction of what they have built.Perhaps millions of years ago, the ancestors of the stem cells of today were mutated (through exposure to the harsh environment and cosmic rays), to breathe life into what were then, pools of inanimate amino goo.Life and death joins together in a delicate macabre dance on a stage strung between statistically improbable events.
mapkinaseNov 22, 2006
That won't help existing cancer. This is for cancer prevention.Once cancer started, the cancer cells bypass "programmed cell death" and divide indefinitely. At that stage you do not need stem cells to replenish the affected tissue.
balfDec 1, 2006
I think the stem cell "theory" is just another smokescreen to deflect everyone away from the real issues around cancer, particularly how terribly ineffective it has been to spend untold billions without making gains for patients with cancer for 30 years, While promoting surgery, chemo and radiation treatments (that Oncologists would not submit themselves to) all other forms of treatment are unapproved..I say back to basics: Cancer is cells that behave abnormally, and that proliferate out of control. The key thing everyone seems to skip over is "out of control". Well, out of control of what? The immune system of course. Our white blood cells kill cancer cells so it is not that they have been targeting the wrong cells, it is that they are ignoring and killing off our natural defenses along with cancer cells. Surgery Chemo & radiation decimates immune white blood cells. That is why Docs test them all the time (no white blood cells = no live patient). Natural Immunotherapy is the answer to dramatically improved results, no matter what else a patient does. Of this I am convinced. It is no accident that the 2002 special report on cancer from the World health Organization shows that North Americans and Europeans, the biggest consumers of surgery/chemo/radiation and the lowest proponents of immune health fare the worst against cancer globally. 85% of the world population do allot better than we do against cancer in both incidence and death rates. We in North America are a mere 5% of the world population yet we bare 9% of the cancer deaths globally. Kinda makes you think doesn't it? The immune system naturally fights any man-made interventions/products as foreign substances, but there are some great ways to elevate immune function and robustly activate white blood cells against cancers, safely and reliably. Mainstream medicine will never endorse this because they cannot make crazy profits from it. But it is what will eventually improve our worst-in-the-world 50% five year survival rate. The Globe article was a series in which the first article on stem cells clearly indicates that current approaches do not work.(wrong targets etc). Yet then the series moves onto: "Treatment waits are too long" (for treatments that don't work); "Falling behind in research" (that have only yielded treatments that don't work); Improved diagnostics (for treatments that don't work). Then progress is made by looking at chemo (there must be a better way), speculating that flu may cure cancer etc. It is all smoke and mirrors to yet again support the colossally profitable cancer industry. Chemo sales 2005 US$26 billion.This is nothing short of oops, we flushed billions, shortened the live of millions, but this time we may really be onto something so keep those donations coming while "we search for the cure". Horsefeathers.The cure is in the mirror for those who do not have cancer. It is not a flu bug you catch. The cancer free person has cells "under control" of white blood cells that routinely terminate abnormal cells (damaged by toxins/chemicals) and cancer cells. Take the white blood cells away, or overwhelm them with toxins, major surgery/trauma, the human natural control mechanism is weakened sufficiently to be ineffective. Bingo, cancer. Schwack, I am sorry to hear of your father's brain tumor diagnosis after successful colon cancer treatment. It is so scary that the return of cancer is so predictable with those who do well in their first battle, It seems the only variably is how long it takes to come back, and where. Chemo kills cancer cell but also kills the white blood cells you need to defend against it's return once chemo ends. Surgery, chemo and radiation are all highly immunosuppressive. So your father was diagnosed cancer-free after treatment, but he was also left insufficiently defended from it's return. This is maddening because robust immune support is available. It is safe, effective and makes all other treatments better and dramatically less punishing for the patient. The Uncle of a friend of mine had brain cancer. He was 86 years old and had previously survived brain tumor surgery, 2 rounds of chem and radiation. It came back with a vengeance and he was given 6 weeks to live. With 4 weeks to live he lost vision, most speech and mobility because the tumor was growing so fast. His daughter gave him a medicinal mushroom extract Mesima while they kept him on low dose chemo. His speech, vision and mobility returned. He stopped all medications and announced that he was leaving the hospital to go home and die. Understandable after what he'd been through. Incredibly, he lasted eight months before he died. What is noted by his family is that nothing the docs did shrank either hindered tumor growth much less shrink it. Yet this mushroom extract did. If I were you, I would go have a look at www.mesima.ca. There is information there I have never seen anywhere else. I think that there is even a case of brain cancer cure outlined there. Good luck. Balf Supporting immune system health from the very start helps all the way through and significantly reduces metastasis...spreading.