We are getting closer to finding out why ovarian cancers recur. For years we have known that even after the best chemo is given under the best of circumstances there is always the possibility of recurrence. Even in Stage I situations, where chemo is given as a sort of insurance policy against those few wayward cells that may be lurking, cancer recurs 10-15% of the time. Why?

Researchers at Yale reported that they have identified, characterized and cloned ovarian cancer “stem cells”. They note that these stem cells, which can be identified by specific markers called CD44 and MyD88, have an extremely high capacity for self repair. These isolated stem cell clones, as opposed to the majority of cancer cells from the same tumors, were able to grow into new tumors 100% of the time.

The researchers also found that the stem cells were far more resistant to chemotherapy than non-stem cells. This brings up great opportunities for targeted therapy because these isolated stem cells can now be experimented with more intensively to find biologicals or chemotherapy agents that are more effective against them. When this happens, there is reason to hope for a big stride in preventing ovarian cancer recurrence after successful initial treatment.

Source: Mor G, Proceedings American Association for Cancer Research Meeting in San Diego, California. April 2008.