I love it when I find research coming straight from the halls of the very hospital where I received my breast cancer treatment. It reminds me that I'm in good hands, that University of Florida researchers are on the cusp of breaking through the mysteries of cancer, that I may one day be the lucky recipient of cutting-edge discoveries, like this:

University of Florida researchers report in a paper to be published in the August issue of Stem Cells that bone marrow stem cells attracted to the site of cancerous growths often take on the appearance of the malignant cells surrounding them. While these cells look like cancer, though, they may not act like cancer. They have the same skin, says lead study author Dr. Chris Cogle. But the question is: do they have the same guts?

"Our results indicate these cells act as developmental mimics; they come in and look like the surrounding neoplastic tissue, but they aren't actually the seed of cancer," said Cogle who is affiliated with the cancer center I've called home for more than two years.

"At the worst, these cells could help support cancerous tissue by providing it with growth factors or proteins that help the cancer grow and survive. At the very least, these marrow cells are just being tricked into coming into the cancerous environment and then made to walk and talk like they don't usually do."

This phenomenon has been termed developmental mimicry and it could have implications for the integrity of the cell lines scientists use to test new cancer drugs.

Up to five percent of cancerous tissue contains marrow-derived cells that look just like surrounding cancer. So when malignant tissue is grown in experiments that test the effects of new drugs, it's possible the results are inaccurate. As a result, drugs may be targeting the marrow cell mimics, not actual cancer cells.

Researchers are collaborating with scientists at other institutions as they strive to further understand this issue.