Health Highlights: Dec. 22, 2007

Mar. 23 -- Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:

USDA Issues Alert For Tainted Beef Possibly Sold at Safeway

Federal health officials issued a public health alert for ground beef that may have been tainted with multi-drug resistant salmonella and sold at Safeway Inc. stores in five states between Sept. 19 and Nov. 5.

A news release from the USDA stressed that these products are not still available for sale, but consumers who may have bought the beef and stored in the freezer for later use should discard or destroy it if they find it.

The five states the beef was sold in were Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada and New Mexico.

The alert was issued on Thursday following a CDC investigation that determined there was an association between the beef products and 38 illnesses reported in Arizona (16); California (18); Idaho (1); and Nevada (3). After an exhaustive search, the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service was unable to track down specific lots or shipments that might have been contaminated with salmonella Newport, the release said.

The Pleasanton, Calif.-based supermarket chain said no Safeway product has tested positive for salmonella to date, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

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Do Stem Cells Play a Prime Role in Cancer?

Cancerous stem cells are the focus of a preliminary study that will be launched within the next few months by scientists at three U.S. medical centers: the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

Some experts believe that cancerous stem cells play a major role in maintaining and propagating malignant tumors, while others disagree, The New York Times reported.

The cancerous stem cell hypothesis is closer to religion than science and proponents are so attached to the idea that they dismiss or ignore evidence against it, says Dr. Scott E. Kern, a leading pancreatic cancer researcher at Johns Hopkins University.

But others say that developing new drugs that target cancerous stem cells may provide a treatment breakthrough.

"Within the next year, we will see medical centers targeting stem cells in almost every cancer," Dr. Max S. Wicha, director of the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, told the Times. "We are so excited about his. It has become a major thrust of our cancer center."