Chemotherapy is a systematic treatment where a patient receives chemical agents that kill cancer cells. Since the chemical agents given to the patient cannot tell the difference between cancerous cells and healthy ones, many cells that are not cancerous die as well- including stem cells. A stem cell is defined by two properties: they can go through numerous cycles of cellular division while maintaining their state of being undifferentiated, and they have the ability to differentiate into specialized types of cells. The damage to stem cells that produce the blood and immune systems is a major side effect of chemotherapy.
Image via WikipediaThe Mater Medical Research Institute has studied how stem cells are naturally regulated, and from this they have learned how to put more stem cells to sleep. They discovered a chemical in the cells that, if removed, puts active stem cells to sleep. If the stem cells are sleeping, then they are protected from the chemical agents given to the patients in chemotherapy.
When the cells reawaken after chemotherapy, they help in making new blood and immune cells. This means that the immune system of the patient is not as weak after chemotherapy as it would normally be, which helps to prevent infections, as usually chemotherapy patients are very susceptible to infections. Also, the production of blood cells means that patients will need less blood transfusions and bone marrow transplants, resulting in a shorter recovery time than normal.
Emma and Angelique
Acknowledgements:
http://www.chemotherapy.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stem_cell
http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/
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