King and Lionheart by Of Monsters and Men. Their entire album 'Me Head Is an Animal' is terrific.
Stem cells have the potential to be used for regenerative therapies, to model and study disease and treatments, and to increase our understanding of the molecular regulators of cellular processes. But, stem cells also have a dark side. Pluripotent stem cells have the ability to form any cell and tissue type in the body, including tumors. In fact, so called "cancer stem cells" may be the progenitors to malignant disease and are highly resistant to chemotherapeutic agents, resulting in metastasis or relapse in patients.
There is a weekly research lecture series at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona called "The Science of Medicine" in which either a Mayo or guest researcher presents their data and findings. The last presentation was by Dr. Max Wicha from the University of Michigan, talking about his findings related to breast cancer stem cells and the need to target those cells to truly 'cure' cancer. He made a very interesting point about current cancer therapy, one in which I think everyone should be aware of. The effectiveness of current cancer therapy (at least for solid tumors such as breast cancer) is measured by the shrinkage of the tumor mass, and doesn't take into consideration destruction of the cancer stem cells. It may even be the case that the cell death caused by chemotherapy actually propagates the survival and expansion of the cancer stem cells. It is a fascinating and fairly recent advance in cancer biology, and one in which research will surely benefit the treatment of all types of cancer in the near future.
All of us know someone who has been touched by cancer and I think this is an important point to be shared and brought up to your oncologist if the dreaded C-word enters your life. Have them get in touch with Dr. Wicha or another cancer stem cell pioneer, it could be the difference between life and death.
Dr. Max Wicha explaining the concept of cancer stem cells and implications for successful therapies
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