Stem Cells May Be at Root of Cancer

Are most current cancer treatments -- as
well as many in development -- aimed at eradicating the wrong cancer cells?

That's the position of some leading researchers, who say that cancer is,
fundamentally, a stem cell problem -- and that therapy should be targeted at
so-called cancer stem cells.

"The models we currently use to develop cancer treatments are
fundamentally flawed," says Max Wicha, MD, director of the University of
Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center in Ann Arbor.

B "Most approaches up to now are targeting the wrong population of
cancer cells," which explains why so many fail to produce a cure, he tells
WebMD.

At the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research here
this week, Wicha moderated a session during which researchers discussed new
discoveries suggesting that stem cells in leukemia, breast, and colon cancer
are at the root of many tumors.