Spotlight

FY12 Spending Debate Comes to a Close

Congress completed, and the President signed into law, the FY12 appropriations bill. The $915 billion spending bill wraps up the remaining nine appropriations measures. The bill provides funding for programs at the Department of Health and Human Services, including the National
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Rep. Rush Holt’s (D-NJ) Editorial in Most Recent Science

Science 16 September 2011:
Vol. 333 no. 6049 p. 1549
DOI: 10.1126/science.1211494
EDITORIAL:

Dueling Visions for Science

Rush Holt
Rush Holt is the U.S. Representative for New Jersey's 12th Congressional District and has a doctoral degree in physics.

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Stem Cells: A New Frontier in Cancer Research - 9/11/08

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Dr. Max M. Wicha
University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center

Are most current cancer treatments targeting the wrong cancer cells? According to Dr. Wicha, the answer is yes. He believes that therapies should be targeted at so-called cancer stem cells.

Dr. Wicha believes cancer is driven by specific cells that contain stem cell–like properties. Cancer stem cells are not the same as embryonic stem cells; the latter are present early in development and can turn into any cell of the body. Instead, cancer stem cells are theorized to be cells that are limited in quantity but can live long-term in tissue, can ‘self-renew’, and begin and drive tumor growth.

Although the concept that cancers may arise from primitive “stem-like cells” is an old idea, only recently have advances in cell and molecular biology allowed the direct testing of this concept. The promise of Dr. Wicha’s work may lead to more effective strategies for cancer prevention and treatment. Given that cancer stem cell targeting agents are now entering clinical trials, we will soon have evidence that either supports or contradicts the cancer stem cell hypothesis.