Scientists Isolate Cancer Stem Cells using Novel Method

Researchers at The University of Texas at Dallas have devised a new technique to isolate aggressive cells thought to form the root of many hard-to-treat metastasized cancers a significant step toward developing new drugs that might target these cells. The researchers used 40,000 tiny plastic beads (Blue) each coated with unique compound to identify the compound that bound only to the breast cancer stem cell (red). Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are associated with drug resistance, metastasis and recurrence of cancer. A synthetic binder of CSCs can provide a valuable tool to study the biology of CSCs and a lead to develop imaging, diagnostic and therapeutic agents targeting (CSCs).