Breast cancer has proved especially difficult to find and fight due to the cancer cells' ability to blend in with healthy ones. Careful examination of the chemical makeup and shape of normal and diseased cells, however, promises to help doctors draw cancer out of the shadows.
Researchers at University of Michigan's Comprehensive Cancer Center in Ann Arbor report in Cell Stem Cell that they found a marker that can be used to identify cancer stem cells in breast tumors. Even though they account for only 5 percent of cells in tumors, stem cells (defined by their ability to generate identical cells and to morph into other cell types) are believed to play a key role in the spread of cancer.
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