A study published in the journal Cancer Research last month suggests that the principle treatment for advanced prostate cancer may actually encourage prostate cancer cells to metastasize [1]. Researchers at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine focused on a gene called Nestin, which encodes an intermediate filament protein. Intermediate filaments are cytoskeletal or scaffolding structures found in cells that, in addition to maintaining cell shape, control a variety of cellular processes including proliferation, migration and survival [2]. Nestin gene expression also distinguishes stem cells from differentiated cells and has been shown to be activated in pediatric brain tumors and rhabdomyosarcomas (cancers that develop from skeletal muscle), central nervous system tumors and gastrointestinal stromal tumors [3-6].