Killing cancer stem cells is a game of whack-a-mole

摘要

To kill a tumour, go after its neighbours: it seems to be the tumour-free tissue surrounding colon tumours that fosters the cancer's most pernicious cells. One theory says that tumour cells can be divided into two types: ordinary ones and cancer stem cells, which can divide indefinitely and go on to form any kind of tumour cell, driving the growth of tumours. "Not all tumour cells are created equal," says Louis Vermeulen, a biologist at the University of Amsterdamrnin the Netherlands.