The discovery of a cancerous stem cell by scientists from the University of Edinburgh could change the way inwhich certain cancers are treated.

Researchers from the New Cancer Centre at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies at the university, working in collaboration with others at the University of Wisconsin have discovered a rogue type of stem cell involved in bone cancer.

The team, headed by Professor David Argyle, successfully isolated stem cells from osteosarcoma in dogs; the canine equivalent of a type of human bone cancer most common in children.

Referring to osteosarcoma, Professor Argyle commented: “This aggressive disease is the most common primary bone tumour in children, leading to more than 80 per cent of patients having to undergo surgery which can include limb amputations or reconstructive limb sparing operations.”

The research, published in The Veterinary Journal, adds weight to a novel hypothesis concerning the structure and workings of cancer, dubbed Cancer Stem Cell theory.

The classical view of cancer is a lump of genetically flawed cells that replicate indefinitely. However the premise behind Cancer Stem Cell theory is that the vast majority of tumour growth can be attributed to a small population of flawed cancerous stem cells. The majority of their progeny become regular tumour cells, while a small population of the cancer stem cells are maintained and continue to drive the growth of the tumour.

This has major implications for the treatment of cancers like osteosarcoma as stem cells are particularly resistant to radiotherapy and chemotherapy, the standard treatment methods employed. As a result standard treatment may kill off the bulk of the tumour, but fail to destroy the small population responsible for the growth of the cancer.

Professor Argyle and his team concluded that there is now “a need to identify therapeutic targets specific for this Cancer Stem Cell population in order to effect longer remissions, or even cures.”