A new study by researchers at Harvard and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, published in the October issue of the world's leading stem cell research paper, Cell Stem Cell, found that the similarity between embryonic stem cells and cancer cells may be even greater than previously thought.
The collaborative effort found that stem cells spontaneously collect cancerous mutations previously found in human tumors. Cells carrying these mutations that undergo differentiation and are implanted in patients may resemble cancerous tumor cells whose immediate effect is unknown. Hebrew University researcher Yishai Avior noted, "It is important to remember that despite our findings, most of the stem cells we examined did not carry any cancer mutations at all and continue to be a huge potential source of cellular medicine."