A handful of leukemia cells constantly replenish the supply of cancerous cells, according to new work by Stanford University School of Medicine researchers. These self-renewing cells, called cancer stem cells, are the ones chemotherapy must wipe out in order to eliminate the disease. Treatments that destroy these cells could more effectively eliminate cancer. Current treatments destroy cancer cells indiscriminately, draining the reservoir of cancer cells without specifically eliminating the cancer’s source. “We were missing the boat because we were targeting the wrong cell,” said Catriona Jamieson, MD, PhD, instructor in hematology and first author of the paper. Other researchers have found cancer stem cells in acute myelogenous leukemia, breast cancer and two types of brain cancer. The current work, published in the Aug. 12 New England Journal of Medicine, is the first to describe these cells in chronic myelogenous leukemia. This is also the first time researchers have identified which cell becomes cancerous, transforming from a normal healthy cell to a cancer stem cell.
