Breast cancer lures stem cells to survive

AUGUSTA, Ga., Jun 08, 2005 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- Breast cancer lures stem cells it needs to survive by secreting growth factors that usually help the body heal, Medical College of Georgia researchers said.

Researchers at the Augusta, Ga., college said they watched growth factors FGF2, which makes connective tissue, and VEGF, which makes blood vessels, bind to receptors on the stem cells, which then migrated toward the cancer.

However, once the growth factors were blocked, the stem cell migration ceased and the breast cancer grew no further.

Researchers said they suspect these and other growth factors play a role in various forms of cancer, which someday might be blocked by an antibody or an armed stem cell that would kill the cancer to which it connects.

"The first generation of chemotherapy was more targeting the cell division of cancer," said senior investigator Erhard Bieberich. "Now we are entering a new phase where we are targeting more the communication pathways."