On Wednesday, Oncology Prof. Max Wicha, director of the University of Michigan Health Systems Comprehensive Cancer Center, gave a lecture entitled Cancer stem cells: A new frontier in cancer research, the first in the Universitys Health Science Lecture Series sponsored by the Taubman Institute, the Program in Biology and several student organizations.

The lecture series aims to inform the public of important health information from University experts in medical and life science. Wichas lecture focused on the theory that cancers are driven by cells with stem-cell properties. He is optimistic that understanding the intricacies of cancer stem cells will aid cancer treatments.

In order to eradicate cancer, we have to eradicate cancer stem cells, Wicha said.

Wicha explained that recent developments of cancer therapies have given researchers the ability to slow cancer development. However, while shrinking cancer makes patients feel better, Wicha said it is not enough to prolong the lives of patients.

The problem is, just shrinking cancer will not make patients live longer, he said.

Wicha developed the cancer stem cell hypothesis, which argues that cancers arise from cells with dysregulated self-renewal. While it was previously believed that any cell in your body could become cancerous, the reality, according to Wicha, is that only certain cells in your body are prone to become malignant.

Much of these findings were discovered in recent research that involved growing human breast cells in Petri dishes and in mice in research labs. Though the research is promising, Wicha said much more needs to be done, especially for patients with advanced stages of cancer.

The goal is to cure cancer, Wicha said. In the common cancers, weve made really good progress in treating early stages of it, but in advanced cancers we havent made nearly enough progress."

Marty Fischhoff, the managing director of the Taubman Medical Research Institute, said he is impressed by Wichas research.

(Wicha) is one of the leading figures in cancer research, Fischhoff said. When he first came out with the hypothesis about cancer stem cells it was revolutionary and a lot of people didnt believe it. Now the rest of the world has come over. Its not universally accepted but most people believe its true.

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Oncologist highlights need to crack cancer stem cells

Millions of diabetics around the world are threatened with vision loss, a secondary effect of their disease, but researchers are exploring whether stem cells can be used to treat or prevent this diabetic complication.

Juvenile and adult-onset diabetes result when the body's ability to regulate blood sugar levels goes awry. When the condition becomes chronic, it can lead to cardiovascular disease, damage the kidneys and affect blood flow to the limbs, sometimes requiring amputations.

The disease also affects the eyes, according to Alan Stitt of Queens University in Belfast, Ireland. Chronically high blood sugar levels can cause a condition called diabetic retinopathy, in which the tiny blood vessels that nourish the retina, the light sensitive tissue at the back of the eye, become blocked or leak.

They then can actually no longer carry the oxygen and the nutrients that the retina requires," Stitt says. "And the retina becomes increasingly dysfunctional as a result of these blood vessels not functioning properly.

If left untreated, diabetic retinopathy can lead to partial or total blindness.

Stitt, who directs the Queen's University Center for Vision and Vascular Science, is participating in a European-led study calledRepair of Diabetic Damage by Stromal Cell Administration (REDDSTAR).

Researchers from the U.S., Northern Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and Portugal are also taking part.Each team is trying to prevent and minimize damage to a particular organ as a result of diabetes.

The scientists are using adult stem cells isolated from bone marrow, the spongy tissue inside bones.Stem cells are master cells that can be coaxed to morph into any type of tissue cell in the body.

In Stitts laboratory, the stem cells are being injected directly into the eyes of mice bred to have diabetic retinopathy. So far, he says, the results are encouraging, showing signs that the progression toward blindness can be halted as the tiny retinal blood vessels are repaired and regenerated by the stem cells:

They are very clever cells, because what we know from the evidence weve got is that they seem to have this ability to go to where the tissue needs them to go," Stitt says. "So they recognize where theres not enough blood vessels and they can actually then participate in the blood vessel regrowth.

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Scientists Explore Stem Cells to Treat Diabetic Blindness