Ovarian Cancer Stem Cell Study Puts Targeted Therapies Within Reach
Researchers at Yale School of Medicine have identified a key link between stem cell factors that fuel ovarian cancer’s growth and patient prognosis. The study, which paves the way for developing novel targeted ovarian cancer therapies, is published online in the current issue of Cell Cycle.
Lead author Yingqun Huang, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences, and her colleagues have demonstrated a connection between two concepts that are revolutionizing the way cancer is treated.
First, the “cancer stem cell” idea suggests that at the heart of every tumor there is a small subset of difficult-to-identify tumor cells that fuel the growth of the bulk of the tumor. This concept predicts that ordinary therapies typically kill the bulk of tumor cells while leaving a rich environment for continued growth of the stem cell tumor population.
The second concept, dubbed “seed and soil,” defines a critical role for the tumor cells’ “microenvironment,” which is the special environment required for cancer cell growth and spread.
Science Brief thanks to EurekAlert.
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Ovarian cancer stem cell study puts targeted therapies within reach
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