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The authors of this Viewpoint discuss the protective activity of fenretinide on second breast cancer as a surrogate marker of primary prevention and the possibility of using this agent in young women bearing germlineBRCA-1 and BRCA-2mutations.
In this Viewpoint the potential implications of improved understanding of the metastatic cascade in cancer patients are discussed. The detection of disseminated tumor cells before the onset of overt metastasis could improve stratification of patients who are in need of early systemic anti-cancer therapy; monitor the efficacy of such therapy; help to identify therapeutic targets; and assist in selection of cancer patients who are candidates for targeted therapies.
Therapy that effectively shrinks tumor bulk is often unable to completely eliminate disease. One theory is that chemotherapeutic agents target rapidly growing cells, but can leave a pool of slowly proliferating, quiescent cells (stem cells) unharmed. These cells can then divide and reestablish the tumor once therapy ceases. This Viewpoint presents evidence that gastric cancer stem cells could originate from bone marrow.
