Access

News and Views

Nature 435, 1169-1170 (30 June 2005) | doi:10.1038/4351169a; Published online 29 June 2005

Cancer biology:  Summing up cancer stem cells

Brian J. P. Huntly1 & D. Gary Gilliland1

Top

Are current cancer drugs targeted at the wrong kinds of cells? A pioneering approach to the development of treatments uses a mathematical model to follow how different types of tumour cells respond to therapy.

In this issue, Michor and colleagues (Dynamics of chronic myeloid leukaemia)1 address the vexing problem that although many cancer drugs dramatically reduce the size of tumours, most cancers will eventually recur, often fatally. The authors model the dynamic changes in populations of cancer cells during treatment, and their data fit with the theory that there is a small population of cells — 'cancer stem cells' — that are ultimately responsible for the growth of tumours and are resistant to current therapies.

MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS

These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated.

NEWS AND VIEWS

Targeted cancer treatment: resisting arrest

Nature Medicine News and Views (01 Oct 2006)

Neurobiology At the root of brain cancer

Nature News and Views (18 Nov 2004)

See all 3 matches for News And Views