OKLAHOMA CITY — Doctors at the OU Cancer Institute announced Friday that they have discovered a way to find cancer stem cells in tumors, destroy them and keep them from reoccurring.

The team of researchers, led by Dr. Courtney Houchen, M.D. and Shrikant Anant, Ph.D., are using the Mushashi-1 protein, which only appears in adult stem cells, to develop a compound that can kill the stem cells and cancer cells, while leaving normal cells untouched.

This is the first time doctors have been able to separate the cancer forming stem cells from normal cells. Houchen said they are going after a particularly deadly type of cancer in their research: pancreatic cancer.

“The mortality rate is so much higher, and we have no way of screening it,” he said. “There aren’t many good diagnostic tests that can detect it early and there are no blood tests that detect it early.”

Houchen said current treatment methods do not target stem cells in tumors, allowing the root of the cancer to survive chemotherapy and radiation. Houchen said he thinks not targeting the stem cell is often the cause of reoccurrences after treatment.

“Houchen and Anant are focusing on adult cancer stem cells because of the major role they play in the start of cancer, the growth of cancer, the spread of cancer and the return of cancer,” according to an OU Cancer Institute news release.

Unlike embryonic stem cells, the use of adult stem cells does not require the destruction of an embryo.

Even though Houchen and Anant are confident their research can turn into a ground breaking treatment, the date for its release is still some time away.

“We are at the basic science to translational science work, what some people call bench to bedside,” Houchen said. “We’re approaching cancer in a different way. A little bit different way than what’s traditionally been done.”

Dr. Robert Mannel, director of the OU Cancer Institute, said it could be five to 10 years before a drug is ready for human clinical testing.

“Our goal is to definitely shorten that timeline,” Mannel said.

Mannel said bringing in knowledgeable people who understand the process so it is understood and facilitated is crucial for the drug to be available in the next few years.

Jim Edwards, Duncan resident and pancreatic cancer survivor, said he hopes to see the drug developed.

Edward’s mother was also recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He said he is worried the disease is genetic.

“Knowing that if this drug comes to fruition, and it works out, its not necessarily just an insurance policy for me and for my health, but it gives me peace of mind that my children, and grandchildren and their kids, all my family, plus my friends and everybody else will have the same insurance policy,” Edwards said.

Mannel said continuing research is the key to success in the fight against cancer.

“The number one thing we need to do in this country is invest in the research, because today 40 percent of the patients that get a diagnosis for cancer are gonna die of their disease,” Mannel said. “The only way we’re gonna change that is to fundamentally attack this cancer with what we do best.”