Stem Cells May Be Causing Cancer Recurrence

Main Category: Stem Cell Research
Also Included In: Cancer / Oncology
Article Date: 18 Jan 2008 - 1:00 PDT

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Prostate cancer can be a very frustrating form of cancer - even when it appears it's completely wiped out, it often comes back and has spread to other parts of the body. It's a fact that has puzzled doctors for generations - but now scientists may be on the verge of finding a new way to treat it. Researchers are now going after cancer stem cells in an effort to stay one step ahead of this elusive disease.

Jon Lyon might tell you that both his golf game and his bout with prostate cancer have taught him persistence. If neither goes well, he says he keeps trying something new. That's why he's been through five forms of chemotherapy in the last four years.

"That has afforded me more good health, more quality of life, and it's fought back this disease to a standstill," says Lyon. While that's good news, Jon knows all too well that his prostate cancer may come back, and cancer stem cells may be the reason why. At Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York, scientists are isolating the prostate cancer stem cells that may be to blame. Doctors say for the last 60 years, they've focused on wiping out the tumor, and while they've been very successful, the cancer can survive. The key to changing that might be cancer stem cells.

"The targets have switched. Now the interest has come around to the cell that may be the source of the tumor, which would be the stem cell," says Gary Smith, PhD, at Roswell Park Cancer Institute.

Every adult has stem cells in almost every organ. They're neutral cells, meaning they don't do anything until the body tells them what to do. Right now, treatments like chemotherapy will kill cancer cells in the prostate, but cancer stem cells can be the real problem. Scientists believe they may somehow "hide" during chemo or radiation, then later they morph into actively growing cancer cells and move to other parts of the body.

"If even one stem cell survives, you're going to have an entire tumor reconstituted, and in a more aggressive form," says James Mohler, MD, at Roswell Park Cancer Institute.

So in addition to killing cancer cells, researchers are also looking for new ways to kill the cancer stem cells before they get a chance to initiate new patterns of growth and cause even more problems for patients like Jon.

Researchers are looking at two different ways to try and kill the cancer stem cells. One is to cut off their blood supply, which might keep them from surviving. The other is to trick them into becoming actively growing prostate cancer cells at the time of treatment so chemotherapy or radiation will kill them just like it does the other cancer cells.

Roswell Park Cancer Institute