Now that we know it is the cancerous "stem cell" that replicates the tumor, science needs to find out what the triggers are. Are there specific chemicals, virus and/or preons that cause stem cells to turn cancerous? What new treatments can be found to increase survivability?

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The fundamental question is "Does every cell in the cancer have the same ability to keep the cancer going?" said John Dick, Canada research chair and senior scientist, Division of Cell and Molecular Biology, University Health Network, Toronto. "What's becoming clear for some cancers is that not every cell does. In fact, only rare cells have that ability." Cancer stem cells have previously been identified in M Leukemia and in breast, prostate, and brain cancers. Stem cells from brain and prostate cancers have been shown to express the cell surface marker CD133....

Peter Dirks, associate professor of surgery at the University of Toronto, who was not on either of the research teams, said the two studies are "important additional pieces in the puzzle that strengthens this idea of cancer stem cells."

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