Stem Cells May Trigger Cancer

In a news release today, Florida University has published their research on one type of Cancer. Their findings could indicate that stem cells may be the underlying cause of Bone Cancer.

University of Florida News Release
The researchers are the first to identify a population of cells with characteristics of adult and embryonic stem cells in cultures derived from biopsies of patients' bone tumors. They describe their findings in this month's issue of the medical journal Neoplasia.

"We're saying the cell of origin of these tumors may be very, very primitive," said C. Parker Gibbs, M.D., an associate professor of orthopaedic oncology and a member of the UF Shands Cancer Center. Gibbs collaborated with several UF scientists, including Dennis A. Steindler, Ph.D., director of UF's McKnight Brain Institute.

The cancer stem cell theory holds that a small subpopulation of rogue stem cells exists within a tumor and has the ability to sustain itself. As these abnormal cells divide, they may generate the bulk of a malignant tumor, then help to spur on its growth.

"Most current chemotherapeutic regimens are developed against the bulk tumor and therefore may not affect the small number of malignant stem cells, allowing recurrence and even metastasis," Gibbs said.

Other research has already have implicated stem cells in the development of leukemia, and Steindler's lab previously discovered stem-like cells in brain cancer. Others have identified these same cells in some breast cancers.


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Good find makeitso.

Most diseases - and certainly cancer - result when misfolded proteins take over stem cells, prevent them from "differentiating" to their proper from, and replicate.

So to be perfectly accurate, the problem starts with the proteins that make up the stem cells.

FYI - the stem cells implicated in bone cancer are called "fibroblasts," and are connective tissue stem cells. "Osteosarcoma" is the clinical name for the related bone cancer.

Fibroblasts were linked to bone cancer before the 1950's. I am glad the connection finally is being acknowledged and discussed publicly.

A quick search on the National Institutes of Health PubMed database for the string "+osteosarcoma OR tumor +fibroblast" pulls 17643 citations. Here are the last 23 entries I found, dated 1950-1952:


17621: HUGUENIN R, GUELFI J. Related Articles, Links
No abstract [Use of phosphorus 32 in osteosarcoma; 4 case reports.]
Bull Assoc Fr Etud Cancer. 1952;39(3):256-60. Undetermined Language. No abstract available.
PMID: 12987898 [PubMed - OLDMEDLINE for Pre1966]
17622: AUBRY M, LIARAS H, HOUEL J, BABEAU P, MASSONNAT J. Related Articles, Links
No abstract [Pulmonary metastases of a late, isolated osteosarcoma; treatment by lobectomy.]
Alger Medicale. 1951 Dec;55(10):1261-4. Undetermined Language. No abstract available.
PMID: 14914702 [PubMed - OLDMEDLINE for Pre1966]
17623: VICKERY R. Related Articles, Links
No abstract Radiation osteosarcoma.
Am J Ophthalmol. 1951 Dec;34(12):1759-60. No abstract available.
PMID: 14894594 [PubMed - OLDMEDLINE for Pre1966]
17624: AEGERTER E. Related Articles, Links
No abstract Osteosarcoma, undifferentiated type, class IV.
Bull Hosp Joint Dis. 1951 Oct;12(2):202-16. No abstract available.
PMID: 14905106 [PubMed - OLDMEDLINE for Pre1966]
17625: DEROBERT, MISSET, MARTIN R. Related Articles, Links
No abstract [Osteosarcoma and trauma.]
Ann Med Leg Criminol Police Sci Toxicol. 1951 Oct-Dec;31(10-12):485-7. Undetermined Language. No abstract available.
PMID: 14894920 [PubMed - OLDMEDLINE for Pre1966]
17626: CRAPS M. Related Articles, Links
No abstract [Osteosarcoma of the tibia of rapid evolution in a congenital syphilitic (illust.).]
Ann Dermatol Syphiligr (Paris). 1951 May-Jun;78(3):foll 320. Undetermined Language. No abstract available.
PMID: 14857409 [PubMed - OLDMEDLINE for Pre1966]
17627: KNIGHTS EM Jr. Related Articles, Links
No abstract Sarcomatous transformation of Paget's disease of the skull.
R I Med J. 1951 May;34(5):258-9. No abstract available.
PMID: 14845491 [PubMed - OLDMEDLINE for Pre1966]
17628: DUTRA FR, LARGENT EJ, ROTH JL. Related Articles, Links
No abstract Osteogenic sarcoma after inhalation of beryllium oxide.
AMA Arch Pathol. 1951 May;51(5):473-9. No abstract available.
PMID: 14818522 [PubMed - OLDMEDLINE for Pre1966]
17629: DECHAUME M, BACLESSE F. Related Articles, Links
No abstract [Osteosarcoma of the mandible; difficulty in the radiographic and histologic diagnosis.]
Presse Med. 1951 Mar 28;59(20):387-8. Undetermined Language. No abstract available.
PMID: 14834117 [PubMed - OLDMEDLINE for Pre1966]
17630: NOGIER T. Related Articles, Links
No abstract [Osteosarcoma of the sacrum cured after more than fifteen years by deep radiotherapy.]
J Radiol Electrol Arch Electr Medicale. 1951;32(7-8):659-60. Undetermined Language. No abstract available.
PMID: 14909012 [PubMed - OLDMEDLINE for Pre1966]
17631: HELLNER. Related Articles, Links
No abstract [Osteosarcoma and its treatment.]
Zentralbl Chir. 1951;76(9):615-6. Undetermined Language. No abstract available.
PMID: 14856262 [PubMed - OLDMEDLINE for Pre1966]
17632: HOECKER FE, ROOFE PG. Related Articles, Links
No abstract Studies of radium in human bone.
Radiology. 1951 Jan;56(1):89-98. No abstract available.
PMID: 14808585 [PubMed - OLDMEDLINE for Pre1966]
17633: de VULPIAN P, KIRSCH J. Related Articles, Links
No abstract [Transformation of Paget's disease of bone into malignant tumor.]
Paris Med. 1950 Nov 25;40(44):622-5. Undetermined Language. No abstract available.
PMID: 14797311 [PubMed - OLDMEDLINE for Pre1966]
17634: BACLESSE F, HERLORY G. Related Articles, Links
No abstract [Roentgenotherapy in osteosarcoma of long bones in children, with the exception of Ewing's tumors.]
Presse Med. 1950 Oct 4;58(61):1075-6. Undetermined Language. No abstract available.
PMID: 14781091 [PubMed - OLDMEDLINE for Pre1966]
17635: SJOBERG C. Related Articles, Links
No abstract [A case of osteosarcoma of the mandible.]
Sven Tandlak Tidskr. 1950 Oct;43(5):421-8. Undetermined Language. No abstract available.
PMID: 14809589 [PubMed - OLDMEDLINE for Pre1966]
17636: ZDANSKY E. Related Articles, Links
No abstract [Roentgenotherapy of osteosarcoma.]
Wien Klin Wochenschr. 1950 Sep 29;62(39):733-5. Undetermined Language. No abstract available.
PMID: 14782476 [PubMed - OLDMEDLINE for Pre1966]
17637: KATZ JF, MAREK FM. Related Articles, Links
No abstract Case of coexistent benign and malignant bone tumors.
J Mt Sinai Hosp N Y. 1950 Sep-Oct;17(3):187-91. No abstract available.
PMID: 14779172 [PubMed - OLDMEDLINE for Pre1966]
17638: CREYSSEL J. Related Articles, Links
No abstract [Prosthetic reconstruction of femur after resection of its upper half for osteosarcoma.]
Rev Orthop Chir Appar Mot. 1950 Jul-Sep;36(5):309-15. Undetermined Language. No abstract available.
PMID: 14787061 [PubMed - OLDMEDLINE for Pre1966]
17639: FERNANDEZ DE LA MELA I. Related Articles, Links
No abstract [Osteolytic osteosarcoma of the proximal metaphysis of the tibia.]
Medicamenta (Madr). 1950 May 20;8(182):359-60. Undetermined Language. No abstract available.
PMID: 15429630 [PubMed - OLDMEDLINE for Pre1966]
17640: DUSTIN P Jr, LEY RA. Related Articles, Links
No abstract [Contribution to the study of osseous dysplasia: anatomico-clinical description of a case of polymorphous osteosarcoma in a child with osseous fibroxanthoma and sexual prematurity.]
Rev Belg Pathol Med Exp. 1950 Mar;20(1):52-72. Undetermined Language. No abstract available.
PMID: 15441550
17641: DECOULX P, DECOULX J. Related Articles, Links
No abstract [Osteosarcoma treated by resection followed by intramedullary nailing and bone graft.]
Lille Chir. 1950 Mar-Apr;5(26):64-7. Undetermined Language. No abstract available.
PMID: 15416158 [PubMed - OLDMEDLINE for Pre1966]
17642: DUTRA FR, LARGENT EJ. Related Articles, Links
No abstract Osteosarcoma induced by beryllium oxide.
Am J Pathol. 1950 Mar;26(2):197-209. No abstract available.
PMID: 15406251 [PubMed - OLDMEDLINE for Pre1966]
17643: HEINECKER R. Related Articles, Links
No abstract [Clinical aspects and radiotherapy of osteosarcoma.]
Strahlentherapie. 1950;82(2):187-208. Undetermined Language. No abstract available.
PMID: 15442763 [PubMed - OLDMEDLINE for Pre1966]
Items 17641 - 17643 of 17643

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Leukemia is cancer of the blood; it is treatable and curable by bone marrow transplant, which is the original stem cell therapy. Leukemia has been very well researched since the 1940's; bone marrow transplants to treat leukemia were relatively common by 1950, and established as a cure by 1960. However, despite its importance to cancer and stem cell therapy, little research on stem cells and leukemia is available in the public domain. Most cancer/stem cell information is privately owned, and protected under Intellectual Property Rights legislation. So public research is playing catch-up with private medical industries; stem cell therapy is a political football, and despite its proven ability to cure cancer, remains classified as an "experimental" treatment that is not covered by insurance.

The politics driving science today demand that cancer be described as "genetic" - even though cancer is now the leading cause of death in the USA, and therefor, obviously NOT genetic - and which contradicts the extensive body of research showing that cancer results from the interplay of infections with contaminations inside the patient's body, and the multifactorial impact on stem cells.

It seems obvious that insurance will not cover stem cell therapy precisely because cancer and other chronic diseases result from infectious and chemical contaminants that are extremely common in our food, air, and water - so treatment would need to be provided several times in any person's life. Too expensive to cover. Plus, it's exceptionally profitable to focus on treating secondary symptoms.

Although most stem cell/leukemia research remains privately owned, the string "+cancer OR neoplasia OR metaplasia +fibroblast OR myofibroblasts OR fibroblasts" will retrieve 1,723,680 citations through PubMed, the National Institutes of Health database. Remember: fibroblasts are connective tissue stem cells. But NOTE: adding "OR stem cells" to the string results in the number of citations dropping from 1.7 million down to 480.

Here are a few articles from a recent search:

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2001 - "Stem cell biology has come of age. Unequivocal proof that stem cells exist in the haematopoietic system has given way to the prospective isolation of several tissue-specific stem and progenitor cells, the initial delineation of their properties and expressed genetic programmes, and the beginnings of their utility in regenerative medicine. Perhaps the most important and useful property of stem cells is that of self-renewal. Through this property, striking parallels can be found between stem cells and cancer cells: tumours may often originate from the transformation of normal stem cells, similar signalling pathways may regulate self-renewal in stem cells and cancer cells, and cancer cells may include 'cancer stem cells' - rare cells with indefinite potential for self-renewal that drive tumorigenesis."
Stem cells, cancer, and cancer stem cells. Nature. 2001 Nov 1;414(6859):105-11. Reya T, Morrison SJ, Clarke MF, Weissman IL. Departments of Pathology and Developmental Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California 94305, USA. [email protected] PMID: 11689955

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2004 - "We generated expression profiles of cancer-associated fibroblasts using oligochip arrays and compared them to those of uninvolved fibroblasts. ...The distinct molecular expression profiles of cancer-associated fibroblasts in colon cancer metastasis support the notion that these fibroblasts form a favorable microenvironment for cancer cells."
Role of cancer-associated stromal fibroblasts in metastatic colon cancer to the liver and their expression profiles. Oncogene. 2004 Sep 23;23(44):7366-77. Nakagawa H, Liyanarachchi S, Davuluri RV, Auer H, Martin EW Jr, de la Chapelle A, Frankel WL. Division of Human Cancer Genetics, Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus 43210, USA. PMID: 15326482

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1994 - "Cancer stem cells are nonhomogeneous even in a single disease such as the acute myelogenous leukemia". Source: Nature. 1994 Feb 17;367(6464):645-8. A cell initiating human acute myeloid leukaemia after transplantation into SCID mice. Lapidot T, Sirard C, Vormoor J, Murdoch B, Hoang T, Caceres-Cortes J, Minden M, Paterson B, Caligiuri MA, Dick JE. Department of Genetics, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. PMID: 7509044

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2005 - "...despite their critical importance, much remains to be learned about the developmental origin of leukaemic stem cells and the molecular pathways underlying the transformation of normal cells into leukaemic stem cells."
Cancer stem cells: lessons from leukaemia. Cell Prolif. 2005 Dec;38(6):357-61. Bonnet D. Cancer Research UK, London Research Institute, London, UK. PMID: 16300649

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1962 - Comparison of the proliferative capacity of acute leukaemia cells in bone marrow and blood. Nature. 1962 Mar 17;193:1085-6. MAUER AM, FISHER V. PMID: 14471509

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2005 - "Although the link between Helicobacter pylori infection and gastric cancer is well established, new research suggests that stem cells play an important role in the development of this malignant disease. JeanMarie Houghton and colleagues recently showed that H. pylori-induced inflammation in mice caused the migration of stem cells originating from bone marrow to the stomach, where they subsequently developed into gastric tumours.1Previous evidence suggests that bone-marrow-derived cells have a reparative function on being recruited to areas of injury or inflammation. The idea that these cells might also play a role in the development of cancer revisits a concept that arose partly from the observation in the 1970s that only 1% of leukemia cells grow into colonies in vitro, an ability that later earned these cells the label "cancer stem cells."2 Houghton and colleagues' research suggests that similar stem cells may give rise to gastric cancer, a finding that presents a new way of thinking about the pathogenesis of a disease that is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, killing nearly 600 000 people each year."
Do stem cells cause gastric cancer? CMAJ. 2005 Feb 1;172(3):325-6. Secko D. PMID: 15684111

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2005 - "The identification of neurospheres from adult brain tumors, and specifically from an adult GBM, is strengthening the case for the importance of cancer "stem" cells in the genesis of these malignancies. A thorough genetic dissection of such cells on a larger scale should give new insights for the therapeutic targeting of these cancer "queen-bee" cells."
Molecular Cancer 2004 Oct 6;3:25. Genetic alterations and in vivo tumorigenicity of neurospheres derived from an adult glioblastoma. Tunici P, Bissola L, Lualdi E, Pollo B, Cajola L, Broggi G, Sozzi G, Finocchiaro G. Istituto Nazionale Neurologico Besta, Dept. Experimental Neurology, Milano, Italy. [email protected] PMID: 15469606



OTHER

2003 - Mutant Stem Cells May Seed Cancer

1997 - Basic fibroblast growth factor levels in cancer cells and in sera of patients suffering from proliferative disorders of the prostate. Prostate 1997 Jun 1;31(4):223-33 Cronauer MV, et al.

1998 - Independent expression of serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) in patients with carcinoma and sarcoma. Anticancer Res 1998; 18(3B):2063-8 Linder C, et al

2003 - Stem cells and breast cancer: A field in transit. Nat Rev Cancer. 2003 Nov;3(11):832-44. Smalley M, Ashworth A. The Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Centre, Institute of Cancer Research, Fulham Road, London SW3 6JB, UK. PMID: 14668814