cancer stem cell treatment

more than 100 years ago, a british doctor,john beard, noted that cancer cells behaved much like human trophoblasts (embryonic cells),which are referred to today as stem cells. in 1911, he published a book called, “theenzyme treatment of cancer and its scientific basis,” in which he expounded on his theorythat cancer was caused by these primitive precursor cells, and that enzymes could beused to treat the disease. dr. beard noticed that the placenta (whichforms from part of the fertilized egg) had many similarities to a tumor, in that it exhibitsuncontrolled and invasive growth. some tumors, like placental cells, even secrete the hormonehcg. placental cells multiply unchecked until the fetal pancreas begins secreting enzymes,at which point the placenta stops growing.

this led dr. beard to the conclusion thatenzymes might also inhibit the growth of tumor cells. tests on mice implanted with tumors showedthat injections of pancreatic enzymes caused their tumors to shrink. dr. beard then testedenzymes on human patients, with positive results. however, dr. beard’s theory never caughton with the scientific establishment, and he died in obscurity in 1924. however, it appears that dr. beard was correctall along. new research shows that tumors do in fact originate from stem cells, whichform the basis for the recurrence of tumors, and also for the development of chemotherapyresistance. most forms of chemotherapy and

radiotherapy kill only the quickly-dividingprogeny of cancer stem cells, temporarily destroying the bulk of the tumor. however,if even one stem cell survives, it will soon recreate the original tumor.