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Cancer continues to rank among the most serious diseases worldwide. In 2023, the National Cancer Institute estimated that 1,685,210 Americans were diagnosed with cancer.
Cancer originates from genetic mutations that accumulate during cell division. While we cannot completely halt its emergence, medical progress has dramatically reduced mortality. According to the American Cancer Society, cancer deaths fell by 23% between 1991 and 2016.
Among the most exciting advances in oncology are stem‑cell‑based therapies that leverage the body's own immune system to combat cancer.
Stem cells are immature, undifferentiated cells capable of differentiating into various mature tissues. They differ in potency: totipotent stem cells can generate any human tissue, including placental tissue; pluripotent stem cells can become any human cell type. Adult stem cells are categorized as multipotent—able to produce multiple adult cell types—or unipotent, which generate a single cell lineage.
Stem cells and cancer are intricately linked. Stem cells possess traits such as limitless self‑renewal, which certain aggressive tumors acquire. Stem‑like cancer cells can proliferate more rapidly than their differentiated counterparts, accelerating disease progression. Additionally, cancer cells that express stem‑cell genes often develop drug‑efflux pumps, enabling them to expel chemotherapy agents and resist treatment.
Although stem‑like cancer cells pose challenges, healthy stem cells offer a promising therapeutic avenue. Researchers can differentiate stem cells into mature tissues that stimulate the immune system to target tumors from within.
Early data are encouraging. A Stanford Medicine study showed that induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), reprogrammed from adult tissues, can function as a cancer vaccine. Mice injected with iPSCs displayed immune priming against tumor cells. Published in *Cell Stem Cell*, the findings suggest iPSC vaccines can train the immune system to recognize and attack cancer similarly to how it combats viral infections.
Stem‑cell–based cancer vaccines remain experimental; human trials are essential to confirm efficacy. Nonetheless, they hold multiple advantages. iPSC vaccines are autologous, ensuring genetic compatibility and advancing personalized therapy. By harnessing the immune system to target cancer cells specifically, they may offer a gentler alternative to chemotherapy, which harms rapidly dividing healthy cells and causes side effects such as dermatitis, alopecia, and cytopenias. Whether iPSC vaccines will become a definitive cancer cure remains to be seen.
