Using Stem Cells to Fight against Melanoma

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Melanoma is one of the most aggressive and devastating types of skin cancer. Scientists at Harvard have released a report that this type of human skin cancer has the potential to be suppressed by targeting cancer stem cells. Initial studies using mice found that specifically targeted cancer stem cells do have the ability to be suppressed. To date, there is no known cure for melanoma, one of the most aggressive skin cancers. In the United States alone, almost 60,000 new cases are diagnosed a year, and the National Cancer Institute states that nearly 8000 deaths in 2007 alone were caused by melanoma skin cancer.
Markus Frank, an assistant professor of pediatrics and one of the leaders of this recent study, announced that he and his colleagues discovered a marker for one of the most fertile and stubborn cells in melanoma tumors. They discovered cells containing a protein called ABCB5 have limitless potential to divide in tumor cells. After injecting anti-bodies that bind themselves to that protein, they realized the tumors in eight of the eleven mice test subjects had disappeared.

George Murphy, pathology professor at Harvard Medical School says, "The significance of our study lies in understanding that if we can identify the relatively few cells that cause melanoma virulence and target them for destruction, we would have hope for an effective treatment for this and other forms of cancer."

Of course, despite such findings, only time will tell if this approach will work in humans who have contracted melanoma.

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