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Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | Next >> Pajonk's team speculated that this may happen because the radiation activates a signaling pathway that gives the stem cells the messages to self-renew.
How is it that these cells are resistant to radiation? "They may have something like a natural radiation protectant inside of them that prevents the radiation-induced DNA damage that normally kills the breast cancer cells," Pajonk said.
The findings are published in the Dec. 20 edition of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
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The new study sends a clear message to cancer researchers, said Dr. Maximilian Diehn, a resident in radiation oncology and postdoctoral fellow at the Stanford University School of Medicine. He co-authored an editorial accompanying the study results. "The main take-home point is that this gives more evidence that we should be studying cancer stem cells more," he said. "Those cells have properties different than the rest of the tumor."
Eventually, he said, scientists may be able to develop new drugs that would overcome this resistance to radiation, he said.
The concept of cancer stem cells is fairly new, said Diehn and Pajonk. For five years or so, it has been increasingly the topic of discussion in breast cancer research, as well as prostate cancer, melanoma and other types of tumors.
A better understanding of cancer stem cells could go a long way toward treatment success, Diehn said. "Often, less than one percent of cancer cells in a tumor are actually cells critical for keeping the tumor alive and potentially spreading the cancer. This is the cancer stem cell," he said.
The new research should not discourage women from getting radiation therapy if it is recommended, Diehn and Pajonk agreed. "Radiation treatment is still one of the best treatments available for women with breast cancer," Diehn said. It's also important, he said, to follow the treatment schedule as recommended and not to have gaps in treatment because that could make the stem cells proliferate.
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