A study carried out by students at Stanford University has found that the stem cells responsible for the spreading of leukaemia work differently to red blood cells.

This means that there is a possibility they can be targeted and wiped out more easily.

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Since the study was conducted, experts have been hopeful that the future will see reductions in the occurance of leukaemia returning after treatment.

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Leader of the research group, Dr Tim Somervaille, believes that focusing on the role of cancer stem cells is the way forward.

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"Not unlike normal, healthy stem cells, they provide a source for new cells.

It's important to stop these in their tracks in order to prevent the cancer regrouping and therefore returning" explains Somervaille.

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"However, this is one of the biggest problems with leukaemia, as even after successful chemotherapy, there can still be a fairly high risk of relapse."

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At the moment, conventional treatment for some forms of the disease can destroy both leukaemia cells and healthy blood cells but the research recently carried out may have opened new doors to ways in which therapies can be tailored to get rid of the leukaemia stems cells more efficiently.

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"Our study has managed to highlight the great potential of treatment aimed at genes and pathways which are of high importance to the function of leukaemia stem cells.

These findings may have a substancial clinical impact" adds Somervaille.