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Cancerous stem cells are often left behind after chemotherapy with the potential to create new tumours -- a process called recurrence and metastasis. In research published in the journal  Oncotarget , the Salford team conclude that stem cell characteristics and behaviour are instrumental in metastasis and believe the key to their reactivation is an enzyme called Telomerase, or hTERT. Using lung, breast and ovarian cancer cells, the team set out to identify which cells are cancerous by their levels of Telomerase, an enzyme which endows cells with the ability to multiply. To achieve this, they followed Telomerase activity with a fluorescent protein, GFP, more commonly found in jellyfish, effectively colouring each cells to mark it either 'active' or 'inactive'. Cells highlighted 'fluorescent' (hTERT-high) were found to be up to 15 times more active than others with an vastly increased capacity for migration and cell proliferation. Michael Lisanti, Prof...