VIDEO: Can breast cancer be stopped by targeting the stem cells?

Video: Division of Research

Many varieties of cancer, including breast cancer, begin inside stem cells, Texas A&M University researchers Weston Porter and Clinton Allred say. By understanding how stem cells regulate their own growth, researchers may develop a method that shuts down out-of-control cells, and keep tumors from spreading. This approach could even prevent cancer all together. By combining traditional therapy that shrinks tumors with new therapies that target malfunctions within stem cells, medicine may manage cancer far more effectively in the near future.

Porter is an associate professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

Allred is an associate professor in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.