Scientists create cancer stem cells

Cambridge, Mass. -- U.S. scientists have developed a laboratory technique that results in the creation of large amounts of cancer stem cells for use in experiments.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers said their technique contradicts an assumption about the trajectory of cancer cells. According to current cancer models, any normal cell can evolve toward a malignant state through a series of alterations, including mutations. Given the right alterations, any cell could eventually acquire the ability to invade other tissues.

But the new MIT study, led by Professor Robert Weinberg, suggests some normal cells are more prone to become tumor-initiating and have a higher potential to metastasize.

The research, which included former postdoctoral researcher Tan Ince, Andrea Richardson, George Bell, Maki Saitoh, Samuel Godar and James Iglehart, appears in the current issue of the journal Cancer Cell.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International.