In April, The Scientist asked, Are Cancer Stem Cells Ready for Prime Time? The controversial hypothesis posits that cells with stem-cell-like characteristics—such as the ability to self-renew and give rise to more tumor cells—contribute to cancer’s ability to evade traditional therapies. But despite previous investigations, which found subsets of tumor cells with the ability to grow in immunocompromised mice, not everyone is convinced that endogenous tumor development is stimulated by cells with self-renewal capacity.
Now, using genetic labeling techniques, three new studies trace cell lineages in new tumors to provide strong evidence for the existence of cancer stem cells. Published today (August 1) in Nature and Science, the technically elegant studies “provide support for the cancer stem cell model” across three different types of solid tumors—skin, intestinal, and brain—said Max Wicha, an oncologist at the University of Michigan who helped develop the cancer stem cell hypothesis and in 2004 co-founded ...
