Cancer Stem Cells Start Tumours in Mice

Stem cells the master cells that give rise to all the blood and tissue in the body may also be responsible for tumours, according to two separate studies published on Sunday.
Canadian and Italian researchers both found that specialised colon cancer stem cells appeared to be the sources of colon cancer tumours in mice.

Their findings, published in the journal Nature, support the idea that future cancer treatments will have to home in on cancer stem cells.

Similar findings have been seen for leukemia, breast and brain cancers, but the two studies are the first to show cancer stem cells are also responsible for colon tumours.
"Colon cancer is one of the best-understood neoplasms (tumours) from a genetic perspective, yet it remains the second most common cause of cancer-related death in Canada, indicating that some of its cancer cells are not eradicated by current therapies," John Dick of University Health Network in Toronto and colleagues wrote in their report.
They implanted human colon cancer cells into mice with a deficient immune system a standard way of studying cancer.