PMH cancer researchers, led by senior scientist Dr. John Dick, have developed a method that converts normal human blood cells into leukemia stem cells. The discovery allows them to replicate, and map, the disease process from the moment it begins. The findings are published in the journal Science.

Until now, leukemia research has focused on studying cells where the disease already exists, however, this new study flips that around, focusing instead on asking which are the normal cells within which the disease arises, and then how it evolves and progresses.

“Most human leukemia research involves studying a patient's diseased cells or a cell line grown from those cells. However, since cancer takes many months or years to develop, just studying the cells at the end of the process does not let you know what the series of changes were that caused the cells to become leukemic, and when they happened, “ said Dr. Dick. “With the method we developed, we have duplicated the natural process every step of the way.  The method we developed opens the pathway generally to understanding the process of how cancer begins.”

Dr. Dick identified the first cancer stem cell in leukemia in 1994, and has since continued expanding his work in that area. Earlier this week, he was recognized for his work with both an Ontario Premier’s Summit Award in Medical Research (read our story here), and funding under the Ontario Research Fund’s Research Infrastructure program.

This research project was supported by grants and fellowships from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, Genome Canada through the Ontario Genomics Institute, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and the National Cancer Institute of Canada, with funds from the Canadian Cancer Society and the Terry Fox Foundation.

Read the press release here.

Read the Globe and Mail story: MDs create cancer in mice