Researchers have found a stem cell that may be the cause of some types of prostrate cancer. Although their findings are experimental, but these could still explain some types of prostate cancer and then offer new ways of treating them.

The findings also show a new source for prostate tumors, called luminal cells, which secrete several compounds that are used in the prostate.

Dr. Helen Rippon of Britain's Prostate Cancer Charity said, "Importantly, this new stem cell does not rely on androgens -- the male sex hormones that control prostate growth -- to survive and grow. This may give a clue as to why prostate cancer often becomes resistant to treatments designed to regulate these androgens in the later stages of the disease".

These new stem cells were christened, CARNs, for castration-resistant Nkx3.1-expressing cells, by Michael Shen of Columbia University Medical Centre and his colleagues.

In the usual course they regenerate part of the tissue that lines the inside of a gland producing semen but the cells can also create tumors if certain genes meant to stop out-of-control.

Shen also said that tumors arise from a different layer of cells called basal cells in the prostate. The main function of the prostate gland is the secretion of an alkaline fluid which helps the semen to neutralize the acidity of the vaginal tract thereby prolonging the lifespan of sperm as they seek an egg to fertilize.