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Researchers have discovered a way to identify drugs that can specifically attack and kill cancer stem cells, a finding that could lead to a new generation of anticancer medicines and a new strategy of treatment. Many researchers believe that tumor growth is driven by cancerous stem cells that, for reasons not understood, are highly resistant to standard treatments. Chemotherapy agents may kill off 99 percent of cells in a tumor, but the stem cells that remain can make the cancer recur, the theory holds, or spread to other tissues to cause new cancers. Stem cells, unlike mature cells, can constantly...

A compound that appears to target the master cells which help breast cancers grow and spread has been discovered by US scientists.Some 16,000 chemicals were tested by researchers In tests in mice, salinomycin killed breast cancer stem cells far more effectively than some existing drugs, and slowed tumour growth. The drug, a farm antibiotic, has yet to be tested in humans, the journal Cell reports. But UK experts warned a human version could be some years away. This is one of the biggest advances we have seen this year in this area of research Dr John Stingl Cancer Research UK...