Home > Clinical Trials and Research > Research

Cancer's Stem Cell Revolution - Introduction

At the U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center, we believe treatments designed to target and destroy cancer stem cells could revolutionize cancer treatment

Watch the video and learn more about stem cell research

Over the last 30 years, researchers have developed more effective treatments for cancers like childhood leukemia, Hodgkin's disease and testicular cancer. Death rates for some common cancers, like breast and prostate cancer, have gone down due to advances in early detection and prevention. However, the survival rate for patients with many advanced cancers has not changed significantly for decades, and cancer is still the second-most common cause of death in the United States.

At the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, we believe one reason for this lack of progress is that traditional therapies - like surgery, chemotherapy and radiation - do not destroy the small number of cells driving the cancer's growth. Instead of trying to kill all the cells in a tumor with chemotherapy or radiation, we believe it would be more effective to use treatments targeted directly at these so-called cancer stem cells. If the stem cells were eliminated, the cancer would be unable to grow and spread to other locations in the body.

Commitment to Cancer Stem Cell Research

What are cancer stem cells?

Cancer stem cells are the small number of cells within a tumor that are capable of fueling the tumor's growth. These cells generally represent fewer than 5 percent of all cells in a tumor.   Read more

The U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center is one of only a few research institutions in the United States and Canada that has made an institutional commitment to cancer stem cell research. Organized teams of U-M scientists are studying cancer stem cells in many different types of cancer - including adrenal, breast, colon, head and neck, leukemia, lung, melanoma, myeloma, pancreatic, prostate and thyroid cancers. By working together and sharing information, Cancer Center scientists hope to make progress more rapidly than would be possible for individual scientists working alone.

We believe new treatments designed to target and destroy cancer stem cells could revolutionize the way physicians treat cancer. Our goal is to be the world's leader in research on cancer stem cells and in the development of new stem cell-based therapies for cancer patients.

Continue reading

Back to top

This document is not intended to take the place of the care and attention of your personal physician or other professional medical services. Our aim is to promote active participation in your care and treatment by providing information and education. Questions about individual health concerns or specific treatment options should be discussed with your physician.

This information is part of the U-M Health System. The information presented is not a tool for self diagnosis or a substitute for professional care. © 2008 The Regents of the University of Michigan

Read more about research on specific cancer stem cells:
Stem Cells in Breast Cancer

Stem Cells in Pancreatic Cancer

Read more about research on stem cells at the University of Michigan:
Stem Cells - Explained and Explored

Adjust text size

University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center
1500 East Medical Center Drive
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

This site is part of the U-M Health System. The information presented is not a tool for self diagnosis or a substitute for professional care. © 2008 U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center