Turn stem cells into cancer machines

American scientists discovered how to turn stem cells into cancer cells. Initial testing in mice has shown positive results.

The information published in the Stem Cells Journal is the result of a study by scientists from Massachuset General Hospital and the Stem Cell Institute (Harvard Medical School). With this technique, stem cells are developed capable of secreting toxins targeting cancer cells without harming themselves. The risk of destroying normal and healthy cells must also be eliminated.

In mouse testing, stem cells were inserted into tumors that were removed from the body. It has been observed that brain cancer cells are destroyed by toxins without any "defense" . The next step, scientists are planning to test on mice infected with glioblastoma - a dangerous and common brain cancer in adults. Human clinical trials are expected to proceed within 5 years.

Brain tumors are often hard and hard to access.Stem cells are thought to be an effective way to reach and destroy cancer.(Photo: BBC)

Evaluating the initial experimental results in animals, the study's lead author, Dr. Khalid Shah proved quite optimistic . 'After performing molecular analyzes and monitoring images of inhibiting protein synthesis within brain tumors, we found that toxins can kill cancer cells , ' he said.

According to him, using special toxins to kill cancer is not a new technique, with many successes in some types of blood cancers. But the same effect is not achieved in hard tumors. Stem cells developed according to such genetic technology could be an escape for this condition.

The aforementioned technique has only been tested on mice with laboratory cancer cells. According to scientists, there are still a lot of steps that need to be taken before this approach goes into practice which opens up a higher chance of survival for cancer patients.

According to the World Health Organization, every year more than 14 million people worldwide have cancer, about 8 million people die from the disease.