"Glioblastoma multiforme is the most common and aggressive primary brain tumor and has one of the worst survival rates of all cancers. Despite surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, these tumors virtually always become resistant to therapy and eventually recur."

"The key to such success appears to lie in the cancer's stem cells, which are more sensitive to chemotherapy than stem cells found in other types of cancer. Defining why testicular cancers are so susceptible to chemotherapy could eventually provide insights for treating other, more resistant cancers."

"For decades, bone marrow transplants have been a crucial treatment for blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma — but scientists are still figuring out exactly how the transplants work. Scientists from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have now taken a huge step down that path by isolating a specific kind of stem cell that regrows a patient’s entire blood and immune system after a bone marrow transplant. The study was published Wednesday in the journal Science Translational Medicine."

"Scientists in China have synthesized a natural cyclic compound that targets pancreatic cancer stem cells."

"Researchers from the University of Michigan, University of Maryland, and Harvard University have developed a method of making cells undergo a remarkable transformation: a shortcut that can transform skin cells into any other type. Their study detailing this metamorphosis was recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)."

"Using a brain tumour model in Drosophila fruit flies - which were also used by the winners of this year's Nobel Prize for Medicine - the researchers recapitulate hallmarks of human brain cancer stem cell and tumour development. In this model, Dr Barros's team visualises cancer stem cells at the time they originate inside intact brain, and can identify early cellular and molecular changes."

"Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers have identified cells in the upper digestive tract that can give rise to Barrett’s esophagus, a precursor to esophageal cancer. The discovery of this “cell of origin” promises to accelerate the development of more precise screening tools and therapies for Barrett’s esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma, the fastest growing form of cancer in the U.S."

"René Yiou and Anne-Marie Rodriguez sought to assess whether the application of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) derived from adipose tissue could help to repair tissue damage caused by RP in a rat model with the hope of using this strategy to treat human patients in the future. Their new study in Stem Cells demonstrates that this strategy is both safe and effective and functions through a potent paracrine mechanism."

"Scientists from Egypt's Mansoura Medical School show it is possible to restore fertility by injecting stem cells directly into the ovaries."

"Now six months have passed since Bradley Godish’s stem cell transplant in February to eradicate an aggressive form of leukemia. He and Charlie, his fraternal twin, have just started kindergarten, are back to their usual antics at home and are showing no ill effects from the surgery."

"British patients will be the first in the world to receive a pioneering cell therapy that scientists hope will transform the treatment of lung cancer. The treatment uses stem cells taken from bone marrow that have been genetically modified to find and destroy cancer cells."

"We could not predict that prolonged fasting would have such a remarkable effect in promoting stem cell-based regeneration of the hematopoietic system. When you starve, the system tries to save energy, and one of the things it can do to save energy is to recycle a lot of the immune cells that are not needed, especially those that may be damaged.  What we started noticing in both our human work and animal work is that the white blood cell count goes down with prolonged fasting. Then when you re-feed, the blood cells come back."

"Working with mice, Johns Hopkins researchers report they have identified chemical signals that certain breast cancers use to recruit two types of normal cells needed for the cancers’ spread."

"Glioblastoma multiforme, the most common and one of the most aggressive forms of brain cancer, is for many reasons a notoriously difficult tumor to treat. Now, researchers from the Harvard Stem Cell Institute at Massachusetts General Hospital have developed a novel method of dealing with the disease: They're infecting the tumor with herpesvirus, shuttled into the brain in stem cells."