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Stem cells resistant to chemotherapy discovered
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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Scientists at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have discovered a subpopulation of cells that are resistant to chemotherapy and drive tumor growth. The breakthrough could lead to new ways to diagnose cancer early and innovative treatments.
Chemotherapy resistance is a common phenomenon that occurs in cancer patients during certain treatment processes and leads to devastating consequences. Tumors that initially respond to chemotherapy subsequently become resistant to it, leading to tumor progression and death of the patient.
The latest study shows that the ability to proliferate despite the effects of chemotherapy is found in the "stem" cancer cells discovered by scientists, which did not differentiate into more specific cell types. At the same time, differentiated cancer cells died under the influence of chemotherapy.
A team of researchers led by Carlos Cordon Cardo and Josep Domingo Domenech of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine created drug-resistant cell models of prostate cancer by exposing cancer cells to gradually increasing doses of chemotherapy drugs, including docetaxel. They found cells that showed signs of development and also displayed cancer stem cell functions, including promoting tumor cell growth.
The scientists then studied human prostate cancer samples and found that patients with more aggressive or metastatic tumors had more of these cancer "stem" cells.
"For the first time, so-called cancer stem cells have been identified as the cause of resistance to treatment and tumor development. This means that these cells are the Achilles heel of cancer," said Dr. Cordon Cardo. "These discoveries are the culmination of more than six years of research that have led to the identification of oncological characteristics that are essential to understanding how the disease operates and progresses."
The study also identifies a new strategy for treating prostate cancer - a combination of standard chemotherapy and two drugs that inhibit the ability of stem cells to develop and differentiate. Some of these drugs are already in clinical trials.
“By attacking these new cancer ‘stem’ cells, we prevent the tumour from growing, rather than treating the symptoms of the disease,” explains Dr Domingo Domenech. “Discovering this population of cells could lead to new ways of diagnosing cancer early and innovative therapeutic strategies.”
The study was conducted on prostate cancer cells, but new research shows that the new cell type is also present in other types of cancer, such as breast cancer, colon cancer, bladder cancer and lung cancer.
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