(H/T – Katie)
Forbes.com reports that researchers at the University of Florida have discovered that bone marrow stem cells attracted to an area of cancerous growth take on at least the outward appearance of the cancer cells:
The bone marrow stem cells “have the same kind of surface proteins” as cancer cells, noted study author Dr. Chris Cogle, an assistant professor of medicine at UF’s College of Medicine Program in Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine.
But while the stem cells have the “same skin” as the surrounding cancer cells, the question is whether “they have the same guts,” Cogle said.
That’s the $64 trillion question, one that I don’t know how I want to see answered. If it does, it will definitely complicate the potential use of stem cell therapy in those with cancer because those stem cells will prove to be too-easily manipulated. At the same time, that ease of manipulation will give yet another lie to the claim that we need embryonic stem cells harvested from the unborn. There is another, more-immediate concern:
Cogle noted that about five percent of cancerous tissue contains marrow-derived cells that resemble surrounding cancer cells. This “developmental mimicry” could affect the results of tests of new drugs on malignant tissue grown in the laboratory.
“If there are bone marrow cells in this cancerous tissue, these (bone marrow stem) cells may actually contaminate our cancer studies and could make a difference as to whether or not investigational drugs we’re testing work or don’t work,” Cogle said.
“The significance of this is new treatments may work in the culture dish but may not translate to the clinic or the hospital room, and for many reasons. One of the reasons could be bone marrow contamination,” the expert said.
Quite interesting. On the other hand, the lack of presence of those bone marrow cells in the culture dish is more likely to result in the failure of that treatment in the real world.
