London - Scientists have got to the root of cancer by identifying for the first time the deadly “mother cells” that give birth to tumours and keep them alive.
They are now trying to create a drug that kills them, finally giving doctors the potential to cure cancer, which claims more than 150 000 lives in Britain each year.
These cancer stem cells are blamed for the disease’s spread throughout the body – the most common cause of death.
They are believed to be resistant to radiotherapy and chemotherapy, explaining why cancers come back after treatment.
Long thought to exist, they have now been identified and tracked by Oxford University researchers who studied patients with a form of leukaemia.
The concept has been likened to getting rid of dandelions by pulling them out by the roots, rather than merely removing their heads.
Researcher Dr Petter Woll said: “We have identified a subset of cancer cells, shown that these are invariably the cells in which the cancer originates and are the only cancer-propagating cells in the patients.
“It is a vitally important step because it suggests that if you want to cure patients, you would need to target and remove these cells at the root of the cancer. But that would be sufficient, that would do it.” - Daily Mail