Why Targeting Cancer Stem Cells Is So Important

How's this for an interesting fact? It only takes 11 cancer stem-cells to start a tumor. Contrast this with the fact that 50,000 non-stem like cancer cells, if transplanted, won't necessarily cause a tumor.

Considering that chemo generally kills 90-99% of cancer cells, getting at those dormant cancer stem cells is really important.

What causes them to get reactivated? What treatment advances are being made to deal with these residual cells?

An experimental drug used in mouse models of ovarian cancer, 673A, works in combination with standard chemo to target these stem cells and lower the chance of recurrence. To read more about this, follow this link.