Medicuras x Aid2day

Stem cell therapy is an increasingly prevalent form of treatment targeting tumors with minimal side effects and improved therapeutic efficacy. There are stem cells from different sources that show different capacities of proliferation, migration, and differentiation. The three main ones being Pluripotent Stem Cells, Adult Stem Cells, and Cancer Stem Cells. One application of stem cell therapy is Blood-Forming Stem Cell Transplant. It’s a procedure that restores blood-forming stem cells in people who have had theirs destroyed by very high doses of chemotherapy or radiation therapy. For example, in leukemia, stem cells are extracted out of the bone marrow and frozen, while the patient undergoes intense chemotherapy. After all the fast growing cells are killed, the frozen stem cells are injected back into the patient's system so that they can become white blood cells, as needed. This is just one of the many ways in which stem cell therapy is being used to improve therapeutic efficacy and general health practices.

With the help of stem cell research, we have discovered possible stem cell therapies for cancer; they are important because stem cell therapy is a hopeful option that can improve therapeutic efficacy, enhanced target on tumors, and reductions of off-target events. The therapies also offer a possible cure to cancer without toxicities that are commonly found in most treatments. In addition to therapies, stem cell research has broadened our understanding of cancer. Stem cell research on CSCs (cancer stem cells) has also led researchers to the stem cell theory of cancer: CSCs are likely to be the origin of cancer metastasis. This has significant implications: current cancer treatments sometimes fail because CSCs still remain. The Ludwig Center at Stanford compares these stem cells to weed roots: “no matter how low the wee[d]s are cut, if the roots aren’t taken out, the weeds will grow back.” CSCs are an important target for anticancer drug discovery.

However, CSCs are not only responsible for the growth of cancer and cancer metastasis, but they may also cause. Traditionally, scientists have assumed any cell in the body can transition to a cancer cell, however, new research from the Ludwig Center suggests that CSCs are produced from normal stem cells or from precursor cells formed by the normal stem cells. If this is correct, researchers can entirely prevent cancer by finding a way in which the normal stem cells do not produce CSCs or precursor cells, and this would thus be monumental in the field of cancer research. This also carries the implication that CSCs may share similar behavior and characteristics to normal stem cells.

In the larger scope of cancer research, utilizing stem cells to address cancer and find possible treatments has the ability to change the field of cancer research. One significant case study of leukemia led to the discovery of CSCs. Leukemia researchers had observed a subpopulation of leukemia cells that shared one important feature: some of these cells could actually transfer leukemia from a sick mouse into a healthy one. From this. Researchers gathered that these cells were actually stem cells that caused the leukemia. This study was in the 1990s – as time passes, stem cell research continues to affect cancer research.

Stem cells are revolutionizing cancer research, and stem cell theory is being used to find new, innovative ways to combat cancer from its origins, helping us understand how cancer takes roots and how current treatments may even be ineffective. From Blood-Forming Stem Cell Transplants using bone marrow to research into cancer stem cells, there are many exciting new developments in the field and, in addition to other forms of cancer research, are helping to improve the lives of millions of people who may, or currently are, suffering from cancer.