Scientists confirmed existence of cancer stem cells

Three independent groups of scientists at the same time reported about detection of so-called cancer stem cells - small groups of cages on which growth of cancer tumors depends, transfers to Lenta. Ru. Allocation of such cages changes not only idea of the mechanism of development of malignant new growths, but also an approach to their treatment. On August 1 three works devoted to this subject, are published in Nature and Science magazines. Thus, the hypothesis is confirmed that at the heart of ability of cancer tumors to renew the growth after long remission existence of small group of cages lies, which can "wait" in a sleeping condition action and chemotherapy, and beam therapy to begin then active division and to start the same process at other types of cancer cages, having initiated repeated development of a disease. The first assumptions of existence of such catalyst and, respectively, to the hierarchical nature of growth of cancer cages appeared in the 1990th years during research of development of leukemia at mice, but they still weren't confirmed on an example of the malignant tumors developing in various fabrics of an organism. All groups of the researchers who have reported about the opening to trace processes occurring in tumors and how various types of cages are involved in them, used methods of genetic marking. Thus each of groups had objects of studying the.

So, the team under the direction of biologist Luis Parada (Luis Parada) from the Southwest Medical center at university of the State of Texas in Dallas, whose work is published in Nature, concentrated on глиобластоме - one of types of cancer tumors of a brain. They assumed that the genetic markers inherent in healthy adult neural stem cells, can be similar to markers of stem cells глиобластомы. Being based on this assumption, authors really found tumors some cages with such markers, thus, that other cages of a tumor didn't contain them. Further researches showed that under the influence of standard chemotherapy all cages, except marked then growth of a tumor renews perish, thus marked cages generate all the others. When authors managed to suppress process of division of marked cages, the tumor actually broke up to fragments which didn't become a basis for development new glioblasty. The group under the direction of Cedric Blanpen (Cedric Blanpain) from the Belgian Free university of Brussels, whose work is also published in Nature, was engaged in studying of a cancer of skin, and all cages of a tumor became objects of research. They managed to find out that cancer cages differ according to the division scenario - the part from them can share limited number of times, and a part, and these are those stem cells - infinitely. It appeared that in that case when the cancer becomes aggressive, in a tumor stem cells capable to unlimited division, instead of cages of other type are formed generally. According to Blanpen, this opening can become a key to new strategy of a cancer therapy at early stages - instead of removal of stem cells, their transformation by means of therapeutic influence in other type of cages with limited ability to division.