Researchers from Taiwan, China and the US have identified “cancer stem cells” and their unique bio-markers in ovarian tumors, which might be helpful in improving existing cancer treatment, team members said yesterday.
Scientists had previously found cancer stem cells in several kinds of tumors, but this was the first time time they were found in ovarian tumor tissues, they said.
Breast cancer stem cells were first identified in 2003, while brain cancer stem cells were found in 2004. Since then, cancer stem cells have been identified in the tissues of lung and liver tumors.
Scientists have hypothesized that when normal stem cells are affected by toxic substances or pathogens, they could develop into cancer initiating cells.
Researchers from National Chung Cheng University and Tri-Service General Hospital, China’s Shanghai JiaoTong University, Indiana University and Ohio State University cultured live ovarian tumor tissues in vitro to separate the ordinary cancer cells and cancer stem cells.
The researchers found two bio-markers, dubbed receptor CD44 and CD117, that are endemic only to ovarian cancer stem cells. These markers can be utilized to replace the existing marker, CA125, used in ovarian cancer diagnoses, as the CA125 has an accuracy of only 50 percent to 60 percent, they said.
Their findings were published in the June 1 issue of the science journal Cancer Research.
Lai Hung-cheng (賴鴻政), from Tri-Service’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, said the stem cells of ovarian cancer are capable of regenerating new cancer cells and have a high resistance to almost all drugs.
“In experiments, it was found that even when nearly 100 percent of ordinary ovarian cancer cells have been terminated, 75 percent of cancer stem cells could still survive and wait for a chance to revive,” Lai said. “It takes 1 million ordinary cancer cells to produce a new tumor, but only 100 cancer stem cells to do the same.”
Michael Chan (陳永恩), a biologist at Chung Cheng, said conventional anti-cancer therapy treats all cancer cells the same way, but the discovery of cancer stem cells shows that treatment should prioritize the destruction of cancer stem cells.
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