The recent discovery of faulty breast stem cells may offer new hope for the development of a cure, according to researchers.

Under normal circumstances, this breast stem cell will produce healthy tissue. But genetic errors in the stem cell, perhaps combined with family predisposition and external factors, could cause the stem cell to produce tumor cells, the researchers said.

Faulty Stem Cells Resist Chemotherapy

This finding may explain cancer recurrence in some women whose breast cancer cells were believed eliminated by chemotherapy. An errant stem cell is more resistant to chemotherapy because it divides more slowly than cancer cells.

While chemotherapy may destroy the majority of cancer cells, a defective breast stem cell may survive and begin producing cancer cells months or years after a woman has been treated for breast cancer, said the researchers from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute.

Researchers Target Genetic Defects

The researchers are now studying human breast tumors to confirm their findings in mice.

Learning more about this breast stem cell may lead to the development of a drug that can neutralize genetic defects in the stem cell and prevent breast cancer, the researchers said.