GP blog

Stem Cells That Kill

Pg 38 \ TIME \ 24 April 2006
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- Oh My Gosh-

It is interesting to see how science has advanced over the past years, and with the War on cancer going on since more than 30 years ago, it's about time somebody has found something which leads to a potential cure.

This new discovery of how malignant tumours are mainly cellular noise with only about 3 to 5 % of the entire cell mass being cancerous cells. It explains why when some tumours have been removed, they can grow back again, simply because the cancerous cells were removed. However it is presumptious to assume that locating these cells is easy; some of these cancer stem cells are extremely dangerous, and others are not. Also, not all the cancer stem cells have been isolated for each different type of cancer.

The new discovery brings hope for those who have loved ones suffering from cancer, for those whose loved ones have perished by it, for those who suffer from it, and for those who have cancer in their family's medical history. By understanding these stem cells, a potential cure can be derived.

Irv Weissman, the scientist who first isolated these stem cells said that it would take years before any research yields a cure, and also said "Don't expect anything before 5 years, but be angry if you don't see anything in 15 years." To finally see the War on cancer won would bring trememdous joy to the world's population, and I for one am marking my calendar. -- DE

posted by silvanix @ 6:51 PM