Genre: Information/Explanation

From stem cells to cancer : balancing immortality and neoplasia Keith , W.N. ( 2004 ) From stem cells to cancer : balancing immortality and neoplasia . Oncogene 23 ( 29 ) : pp. 5092-5094 . Full text of this document is not available in this ePrints Service . Abstract In this issue of Oncogene , Serakinci et al show that adult stem cells can be targets for neoplastic transformation . After transducing human adult mesenchymal stem cells ( hMSC ) with the telomerase hTERT gene , and growing them for many population doublings in culture , Serakinci et al observed that the transduced cells developed characteristics consistent with transformation including loss of contact inhibition , anchorage independence and tumour formation in mice . Underlying these changes were alterations to genes involved in cell cycle regulation and senescence as well as oncogene activation . The importance of these observations is twofold . Firstly , showing that stem cells can become tumours raises a note of caution for stem cell therapeutics . Secondly , the findings lend support to the stem cell hypothesis of cancer development , and provide an experimental system in which the tantalizing hint of new diagnostic , prognostic , and therapeutic opportunities offered by this concept can be explored further .