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Newly identified stem cells can lure breast cancer to the spine

Stem cells in the vertebrae secrete a protein that acts as a tumor attractor

An image of newly discovered stem cells shown in green.

Scientists have discovered a new type of stem cell that forms spinal tissue (in mice, these stem cells and the cells they produce are shown in green).

J. Sun et al./Nature 2023

By Meghan Rosen

When breast cancer spreads, it often targets the spine. Now scientists may have finally discovered why.

A newfound kind of stem cell drives cancer cells to bones in the vertebrae, pathologist Matthew Greenblatt of Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City and his colleagues report September 13 in Nature.