In a groundbreaking study published in Nature, a team of researchers at HSS and Weill Cornell Medicine have discovered a new stem cell uniquely present in the spine. Vertebral stem cells, distinct from any stem cells in the body, hold the key to understanding a range of conditions affecting the spine – including its higher incidence of cancerous tumor metastases, particularly from breast, prostate, and lung cancers. Learn more from primary investigator, Matthew Greenblatt, MD, PhD, associate professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and assistant scientist in the HSS research division, clinical collaborator Sravisht Iyer, MD, spine surgeon at HSS, and Mathias P. Bostrom, MD, associate surgeon-in-chief and director of quality and safety at HSS. 

Watch the video at youtube.com.