• 3/17/2005
  • Vicki Brower
  • Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Vol. 97, No. 6, 414-416, March 16, 2005

The controversy surrounding human embryonic stem cells has captured headlines in the mainstream media in the last few years; meanwhile, the pages of the scientific literature have recently revealed some groundbreaking findings with adult stem cells. Scientists have shown that certain adult stem cells— neural, mesenchymal, and endothelial stem cells—have an uncanny ability to home to cancer cells and tumors, even moving through large areas of the body. Researchers hope to exploit this “attraction” to kill cancer by using the cells as Trojan horses to attach and deliver deadly payloads to cancer cells as an adjunct to other treatments.

Stem cells play a key role in development and repair, and like cancer cells, they are self-renewing. “That stem cells and brain tumor cells behave very, very similarly gave rise to two areas of investigation,” said Evan Snyder, M.D., Ph.D., director of stem cell research at the Burnham Institute in San Diego. “First, it made us ask whether the tumors had stem cells in them, and second, if they migrate to cancer cells, could we use them to treat tumors?”