Cancer debate: Are tumors fueled by stem cells? How can a cancer
come back after it's apparently been eradicated? Three new
studies from American, Belgian, British and Dutch researchers
are bolstering a long-debated idea: that tumors contain their
own pool of stem cells that can multiply and keep fueling the
cancer, seeding regrowth. If that's true, scientists will need
to find a way to kill those cells, apart from how they attack
the rest of the tumor. Stem cells in healthy tissues are known
for their ability to produce any kind of cell. The new research
deals with a different kind, cancer stem cells. Some
researchers, but not all, believe they lurk as a persisting
feature in tumors. Over the past decade, studies have found
evidence for them in tumors like breast and colon cancers. But
this research has largely depended on transplanting human cancer
cells into mice that don't have immune systems, an artificial
environment that raises questions about the relevance of the
results. Now, three studies reported o