Cancer Stem Cells Require Inflammation

Spread of cancer requires stem cells and inflammation. A tumor provides support for development of cancer stem cells and the inflammation transcription factor, NFkB is needed for the expression of the stem cell phenotype.

A recent research article shows that inflammation is the basis for prostate cancer and in particular for the division of cancer stem cells, i.e. proliferation. The stem cells of prostate cancer are a rare form of epithelial (surface layer) cells that produce a particular protein on the surface of their cell membrane that is different from the other cells in a prostate tumor. The researchers examined the genes that were expressed in the presumptive prostate cancer stem cells using DNA array technology that measures gene expression by the amount of mRNA transcribed from each gene. Thus, the total mRNA from the cell sample is extracted, attached to fluorescent dyes, hybridized to each of the 20,000 human genes displayed in tiny drops on a microscope slide and examined by a fluorescence microscope. The amount of fluorescent mRNA attached to each gene is a measure of the expression of that gene. Control cell mRNA extracts can be used for comparison.

The major finding of the research was that the suite of inflammatory genes controlled by the inflammatory transcription factor NFkB were characteristic of the prostate cancer stem cells. If NFkB was inhibited by the active ingredient in feverfew, parthenolide, the cancer stem cells died by programmed cell death, apoptosis. Parthenolide is used to treat inflammation, e.g. in arthritis. NFkB is also inhibited by aspirin and curcumin, the active component in turmeric. These and other anti-inflammatory plant products have been implicated in reducing cancer.