Suddenly, there is a new twist on the importance of stem cells.

Everyone's talking about stem cells. They are the basic building blocks of the body. They may have amazing power to heal and repair. They may also, it seems, control cancer.

We all now understand that a stem cell's destiny is not decided until it is motivated to go down one of many, many paths to create organs, muscle, brain, blood, nerves and bones.

Because stem cells are the origin of so much of our physical plant, it makes sense that they would also be the origin of tumors. Until recently, that logic was unproven. A recent study by Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator Carla Bender Kim and her team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology indicates that the most common form of lung cancer may begin in a group of lung stem cells. The study was published in the June 17, 2005 issue of the journal Cell. According to HHMI, Bender Kim and her colleagues' work represents a leap forward in our understanding of the genesis of lung tumors, and could lead to earlier diagnosis of lung cancer in people. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States, in part because it is usually detected at an advanced stage. If the disease has spread to other organs, there is only a two percent chance of surviving for five years. If, however, lung cancer is detected at an earlier stage, the survival rate surges to 50 percent over a five-year period.

"There are many similarities between stem cells and cancer," said Bender Kim, a postdoctoral fellow in the Tyler Jacks Lab. "Cancer cells can continue to divide many times. Likewise, stem cells can divide over the lifespan of the organism." "Also, tumors are very heterogeneous, composed of many different cells, and stem cells can give rise to different types of cells," Bender Kim continued.

As yet, researchers do not know if stem cells play a role in more established tumors, but other scientists now report evidence that some human cancers contain a small but virulent group of cells known as "cancer stem cells" that regenerate the tumor, a capacity that most cells in a tumor do not have.

Tyler Jacks, who heads the MIT lab, puts his finger on it when he said, "These may be the cells we have to eliminate in cancer in order to obtain durable cures for the disease. And, along the way, we need to know how these cancer stem cells become different from normal stem cells."

Ah, do I understand this correctly? If we learn how normal stem cells respond to damage, we may learn how to reverse that process and, thereby, program cancer stem cells to revert to normalcy? This sounds like a chapter of the stem cell story I, and millions of others need to know more about. Right away and on an ongoing basis.

But how? How can we stay abreast of the whole story of cancer research?

We aren't researchers. We can't troll the web for every nuanced piece of scientific news in the wild hope we can even understand what they all mean. Perhaps we have something to trade for this information.

What if we established a Loudoun County Cancer Study, something similar to the Framingham, Massachusetts Heart Study that has been so valuable in understanding and addressing heart disease.

We have tremendous medical institutions who would benefit from research of this type centered in Loudoun County. Those that come immediately to mind include Inova's Lansdowne, NOVA Medical Group, HHMI, Johns Hopkins and the National Institutes of Health.

And, we have plenty of cancer.

Cancer of all kinds, in individuals of all ages and demographics. If the county is growing faster than any other in the country, the incidents of cancer must be growing axiomatically. Or, sadly, faster.

A study of this magnitude is expensive. It takes time, planning, money and commitment. But it would be an impeccable way to create something valuable we could trade for excellent, timely information about progress being made to address each of our own cancers.

With perseverance, we might make a landmark contribution to cancer research ourselves. What could be cooler than that!

Do I hear anyone else who'd be willing to join the Loudoun County Cancer Study?

Let me know. gcudaback@yahoo.com.