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Cancer Confetti
14 October 2012

Cancer Confetti

The concept of cancer stem cells – faulty cells constantly fuelling tumours – is a hot topic in research. It’s thought that they produce the tumour 'bulk', that can be killed with drugs or radiotherapy, yet are resistant to treatment themselves. Although there’s good evidence that leukaemia [blood cancer] results from such stem cells, their existence in other cancers is more controversial. To help solve the argument, researchers are studying early-stage bowel tumours in mice carrying a gene named confetti. It makes a fluorescent protein that highlights each stem cell and its ‘offspring’, with a different colour (pictured). Individual tumours (outlined by white dashes) have grown from a single red, yellow or green-labelled cancer stem cell. This result suggests that, at least in bowel cancer, a single cancer stem cell fuels tumour growth. And it reinforces the importance of developing better therapies targeting these rogue cells.

Written by Kat Arney

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BPoD stands for Biomedical Picture of the Day. Managed by the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences until Jul 2023, it is now run independently by a dedicated team of scientists and writers. The website aims to engage everyone, young and old, in the wonders of biology, and its influence on medicine. The ever-growing archive of more than 4000 research images documents over a decade of progress. Explore the collection and see what you discover. Images are kindly provided for inclusion on this website through the generosity of scientists across the globe.

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