Are adult stem cells the same as embryonic stem cells?
Adult stem cells are NOT the same as embryonic stem cells. Embryonic stem cells develop in an embryo
shortly after the egg is fertilized by sperm. Embryonic stem cells in a developing embryo give rise to all the
different types of cells in the body.
How many embryonic stem cells does a human embryo have?
The inner cell mass of a 5-day-old human embryo contains about 30 to 40 embryonic stem cells. They are the ancestors of every cell, tissue and organ found in the human body.
Adult stem cells are more specialized. Instead of being able to give rise to all types of cells in the body,
they only can develop into cells found in specific organs or types of tissue in the body. Breast stem cells can
only become cells found in breast tissue, for example. Liver stem cells can only form cells found in the liver.
What are cancer stem cells?
Watch the video as Dr. Wicha explains how adult stem cells differ from embryonic stem cells
Cancer stem cells are abnormal stem cells found in different types of cancer. Like other stem cells, they can self-
renew to make copies of themselves and differentiate to form all the different types of cells found in the cancer.
We think cancer stem cells develop when something goes wrong in the genes and signaling pathways the body uses to
control the self-renewal of adult stem cells or their progenitor cells. Instead of dividing once to form one exact
copy and one progenitor cell, for example, a cancer stem cell may just keep on copying itself.
Many scientists believe cancer's development, growth and metastasis (the spread of malignant cells to another part
of the body), is driven by the uncontrolled, abnormal division of just a few cancer stem cells.
Traditional therapies like chemotherapy and radiation will kill malignant cells in most types of cancer, but
they don't affect cancer stem cells. So scientists are searching for new types of therapies aimed specifically at
cancer stem cells. If scientists can find a way to kill the stem cells, we believe we could prevent cancer from
returning or spreading to other parts of the body.
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