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Stem Cells in Breast Cancer

Why are women still dying of breast cancer?

Advances in mammography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) screening for breast cancer have made it possible for doctors to see breast tumors when they are very small. When physicians can diagnose and treat breast cancer early, they often can remove the tumor with surgery and prevent a recurrence.

Once malignant cells leave the primary breast tumor and migrate to other parts of the body, however, treatment is more difficult. Chemotherapy and radiation will kill most malignant cells and shrink the tumor, but the cancer often comes back, because these therapies don't kill the stem cells. In addition, cancer stem cells drive metastasis - the tendency of malignant cells to spread throughout the body and form new tumors. Metastatic cancer is often what causes the death of women with advanced breast cancer.

To cure metastatic breast cancer, U-M scientists believe you must eliminate the cancer stem cells. Chemotherapy and radiation alone cannot do that.

Some breast tumors have more stem cells than others. Is that significant?

Research has shown that breast tumors with a higher percentage of cancer stem cells are more aggressive and more likely to spread. Women with these tumors have a higher risk of dying from cancer. So knowing the percentage of stem cells in a breast tumor could help determine which patients need more aggressive treatment.

Updated 3/2011

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Learn more:
In 2003, U-M Cancer Center scientists discovered the fingerprint for breast cancer stem cells. Read the press release.

Stem cell research at the University of Michigan
Stem Cells - Explained and Explored

Other stem cell resources
National Institutes of Health Web site on stem cells

International Society for Stem Cell Research

Broccoli Versus Breast Cancer Stem Cells
a video blog from NutritionFacts.org