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Stem Cells At The Core of Cancer?

davecb writes "The Globe and Mail reports that cancers have at their core a small number of stem cells, without which they cannot spread or reoccur. From the article: 'A spate of new discoveries about the basic biology of cancer is pushing researchers toward an astonishing conclusion: For decades, efforts to cure the disease may have targeted the wrong cells.' If true, the discoveries of Canadian and Italian research groups may give us a new path to selectively attack cancer."

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  1. fox is spinning so hard i'm dizzy by macadamia_harold · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The Globe and Mail reports that cancers have at their core a small number of stem cells, without which they cannot spread or reoccur.

    So how long until we have some partisan halfwit wielding this nugget of information in his crusade against stem-cell research?

    1. Re:fox is spinning so hard i'm dizzy by Froster · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Or it will work in the opposite sense. Its hard to argue against research that can cure cancer. There has been a lot of talk about the use of stem cells to treat inherited disease, but thats largely something that only those unfortunate enough to suffer from that disease would favour (or publicly advocate). Cancer on the other hand is something that everyone can relate to, and everyone knows a victim of. If you told even the most ardent Bush supporter if they are willing to do whatever they can to cure cancer, I doubt they would be willing to say no.