cancer stem cells

Making transplants easier for kids, and charting a new approach to fighting solid tumors.

/ Kevin McCormack / Leave a comment

Every year California performs around 100 kidney transplants in children but, on average, around 50 of these patients will have their body reject the transplant. These children then have to undergo regular dialysis while waiting for a new organ. Even the successful transplants require a lifetime of immunosuppression medications. These medications can prevent rejection but they also increase the risk of infection, gastrointestinal disease, pancreatitis and cancer.

Dr. Alice Bertaina and her team at Stanford University were awarded $11,998,188 to test an approach that uses combined blood stem cell (HSC) and kidney transplantation with the goal to improve outcomes with kidney transplantation in children. This approach seeks to improve on the blood stem cell preparation through an immune-based purification process.

In this approach, the donor HSC are transplanted into the patient in order to prepare for the acceptance of the donor kidney once transplanted. Donor HSC give rise to cells and conditions that re-train the immune system to accept the kidney. This creates a “tolerance” to the transplanted kidney providing the opportunity to avoid long-term need for medications that suppress the immune system.

Pre-clinical data support the idea that this approach could enable the patient to stop taking any immunosuppression medications within 90 days of the surgery.

Dr. Maria T. Millan, President and CEO of CIRM, a former pediatric transplant surgeon and tolerance researcher states that “developing a way to ensure long-term success of organ transplantation by averting immune rejection while avoiding the side-effects of life-long immunosuppression medications would greatly benefit these children.”

The CIRM Board also awarded $7,141,843 to Dr. Ivan King and Tachyon Therapeutics, Inc to test a drug showing promise in blocking the proliferation of cancer stem cells in solid tumors such as colorectal and gastrointestinal cancer.

Patients with late-stage colorectal cancer are typically given chemotherapy to help stop or slow down the progression of the disease. However, even with this intervention survival rates are low, usually not more than two years.

Tachyon’s medication, called TACH101, is intended to target colorectal cancer (CRC) stem cells as well as the bulk tumor by blocking an enzyme called KDM4, which cancer stem cells need to grow and proliferate.

In the first phase of this trial Dr. King and his team will recruit patients with advanced or metastatic solid tumors to assess the safety of TACH101, and determine what is the safest maximum dose. In the second phase of the trial, patients with gastrointestinal tumors and colorectal cancer will be treated using the dose determined in the first phase, to determine how well the tumors respond to treatment.  

The CIRM Board also awarded $5,999,919 to Dr. Natalia Gomez-Ospina and her team at Stanford University for a late-stage preclinical program targeting Severe Mucopolysaccharidosis type 1, also known as Hurler syndrome. This is an inherited condition caused by a faulty gene. Children with Hurler syndrome lack an enzyme that the body needs to digest sugar. As a result, undigested sugar molecules build up in the body, causing progressive damage to the brain, heart, and other organs. There is no effective treatment and life expectancy for many of these children is only around ten years.

Dr. Gomez-Ospina will use the patient’s own blood stem cells that have been genetically edited to restore the missing enzyme. The goal of this preclinical program is to show the team can manufacture the needed cells, to complete safety studies and to apply to the US Food and Drug Administration for an Investigational New Drug (IND), the authorization needed to begin a clinical trial in people.

Finally the Board awarded $20,401,260 to five programs as part of its Translational program. The goal of the Translational program is to support promising stem cell-based or gene projects that accelerate completion of translational stage activities necessary for advancement to clinical study or broad end use. Those can include therapeutic candidates, diagnostic methods  or devices and novel tools that address critical bottlenecks in research.

The successful applicants are:

APPLICATIONTITLEPRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR – INSTITUTIONAMOUNT  
TRAN4-14124Cell Villages and Clinical Trial in a Dish with Pooled iPSC-CMs for Drug DiscoveryNikesh Kotecha — Greenstone Biosciences  $1,350,000
TRAN1-14003Specific Targeting Hypoxia Metastatic Breast Tumor with Allogeneic Off-the-Shelf Anti-EGFR CAR NK Cells Expressing an ODD domain of HIF-1αJianhua Yu — Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope  $6,036,002  
TRAN1-13983CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing of Hematopoietic
stem and progenitor cells for Friedreich’s ataxia		Stephanie Cherqui — University of California, San Diego  $4,846,579
TRAN1-13997Development of a Gene Therapy for the Treatment of
Pitt Hopkins Syndrome (PHS) – Translating from Animal Proof of Concept to Support Pre-IND Meeting		Allyson Berent — Mahzi Therapeutics  $4,000,000
TRAN1-13996Overcoming resistance to standard CD19-targeted CAR
T using a novel triple antigen targeted vector		William J Murphy — University of California, Davis  $4,168,679

Researchers discover promising approach against treatment-resistant cancer

/ Esteban Cortez / Leave a comment

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Photo: Albert Einstein College of Medicine 

Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine have devised a promising strategy for overcoming a key cause of cancer deaths: the ability of cancer cells to thrive in the face of chemotherapy drugs designed to destroy them.  

There are cells, called cancer stem cells, that have the ability to evade chemotherapy and lie dormant for a while. But later they can become active again, generate more cancer cells, and cause relapses.  

Published in the March 7 issue of Nature Communications, investigators used a two-drug combination to achieve chemotherapy’s goal: to make cancer cells self-destruct via the biological process known as apoptosis—also known as programmed cell death. 

The treatment worked against human cancer cell lines that resisted apoptosis despite exposure to different types of chemotherapy, and against apoptosis-resistant human tumors implanted in mice. 

“We need new, broadly active therapies that can attack a range of cancers while causing fewer side effects than current treatments, and we hope our new therapeutic strategy will prove to be a viable option,” said Evripidis Gavathiotis, PhD, professor of biochemistry and of medicine at Einstein and corresponding author on the paper. 

How Apoptosis Works 

The body relies on apoptosis for getting rid of unwanted cells, including damaged cells that need to be removed so they don’t develop into cancer cells. Both chemotherapy and radiation rely on damaging cancer cells so they undergo apoptosis, but that doesn’t always happen. 

Every cell in the body contains some two dozen apoptotic proteins that promotes its own destruction. Some proteins stimulate apoptosis (pro-apoptotic proteins), while others block the process (anti-apoptotic proteins).  

BAX—The Executioner Protein

The new drug combination discovered by researchers at Einstein kills apoptosis-resistant cancer cells by boosting the active form of one pro-apoptotic protein in particular: BAX, dubbed the “executioner protein.” They then combined that with Navitoclax, an investigational  cancer drug that blocked the activity of proteins that inhibit the effectiveness of BAX. 

When the Einstein team tested the drug duo against 46 human blood and solid tumor cell lines, it packed a one-two punch, boosting active BAX to toxic levels in cancer cells, and Navitoclax acting as BAX’s bodyguard by preventing other proteins from neutralizing BAX. 

Limiting Side Effects 

The two orally-administered drugs were then tested in mice implanted with tumor cells from a colorectal-cancer cell line that had resisted one version of BAX and Navitoclax as individual drugs but had succumbed to their combined use. The in vivo experiment produced similar results.  

Individually, each drug had limited effectiveness in reducing tumor growth, while combining them significantly suppressed tumor growth, indicating that the two drugs act synergistically to defeat apoptosis-resistant tumors. 

“Equally important, mice receiving the two-drug combination tolerated it remarkably well,” noted Dr. Gavathiotis. “Moreover, analysis of the treated mice showed that healthy cells were not affected by the two-drug combination—likely making it safer than standard chemotherapies, which are toxic to all dividing cells, both cancerous and normal.” 

Read the source article here.

Old therapies inspire new hope for treatment of pediatric brain tumors

/ Katie Sharify / 1 Comment

THIS BLOG IS ALSO AVAILABLE AS AN AUDIO CAST

Image courtesy St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

A recent study led by John Hopkins Medicine has found that combining two ‘old therapies’ can offer a surprising new purpose – fighting Medulloblastoma, the most common malignant brain tumor in children. The fast-growing cancerous tumor originates in the brain or spinal cord and has traditionally been treated with surgery to remove the tumor followed by radiation and chemotherapy. 

The prospective therapy which comprises of copper ions and Disulfiram (DSF-Cu++), paves the way toward a successful treatment that can be used alone or in conjunction with traditional therapy. “Disulfiram, [is] a medication that’s been used for nearly 70 years to treat chronic alcoholism,” explains Betty Tyler, the study’s senior author and associate professor of neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins. “It has great promise being ‘repurposed’ as an anticancer agent, especially when it is complexed with metal ions such as copper.”

The researchers tested the anticancer activity of DSF-Cu++ and, in their attempts to define what it targeted at the molecular level to achieve these effects, were able to highlight four key findings.

First, the team of researchers found that DSF-Cu++ blocks two biological pathways in medulloblastomas that the cancer cells need in order to remove proteins threatening their survival. With these pathways blocked, these proteins accumulate in the tumor and cause the malignant cells to die, leaving them to eventually be removed by the body’s own immune system. 

Second, the researchers discovered that just a few hours of exposure to DSF-Cu++ not only kills medulloblastoma cells but can also effectively reduce the cancer stem cells responsible for their creation. 

The third finding in the study revealed that DSF-CU++ keeps cancer cells from recovering. By impairing the ability of medulloblastoma cells to repair the damage done to their DNA, DSF-CU++ enhances the cell killing power of the treatment.

Lastly, the promising combo of DSF-CU++ demonstrated significant increases in prolonging survival days of mice whose brains were implanted with two subtypes of medulloblastoma. 

De-stressing stem cells and the Bonnie & Clyde of stem cells

/ Kevin McCormack / 1 Comment
Dr. John Cashman

The cells in our body are constantly signalling with each other, it’s a critical process by which cells communicate not just with other cells but also with elements within themselves. One of the most important signalling pathways is called Wnt. This plays a key role in early embryonic and later development. But when Wnt signalling goes wrong, it can also help spur the growth of cancer.

Researchers at the Human BioMolecular Research Institute (HBRI) and Stanford University, have reported on a compound that can trigger a cascade of events that create stress and ultimately impact Wnt’s ability to control the ability of cells to repair themselves.

In a news release Dr. Mark Mercola, a co-author of a CIRM-funded study – published in the journal Cell Chemical Biology – says this is important: “because it explains why stressed cells cannot regenerate and heal tissue damage. By blocking the ability to respond to Wnt signaling, cellular stress prevents cells from migrating, replicating and differentiating.”

The researchers discovered a compound PAWI-2 that shows promise in blocking the compound that causes this cascade of problems. Co-author Dr. John Cashman says PAWI-2 could lead to treatments in a wide variety of cancers such as pancreatic, breast, prostate and colon cancer.

“As anti-cancer PAWI-2 drug development progresses, we expect PAWI-2 to be less toxic than current therapeutics for pancreatic cancer, and patients will benefit from improved safety, less side effects and possibly with significant cost-savings.”

Dr. Catriona Jamieson: Photo courtesy Moores Cancer Center, UCSD

Speaking of cancer….

Stem cells have many admirable qualities. However, one of their less admirable ones is their ability to occasionally turn into cancer stem cells. Like regular stem cells these have the ability to renew and replicate themselves over time, but as cancer stem cells they use that ability to help fuel the growth and spread of cancer in the body. Now, researchers at U.C. San Diego are trying to better understand how those regular stem cells become cancer stem cells, so they can stop that process.

In a CIRM-funded study Dr. Catriona Jamieson and her team identified two molecules, APOBEC3C and ADAR1, that play a key role in this process.

In a news release Jamieson said: “APOBEC3C and ADAR1 are like the Bonnie and Clyde of pre-cancer stem cells — they drive the cells into malignancy.”

So they studied blood samples from 54 patients with leukemia and 24 without. They found that in response to inflammation, APOBEC3C promotes the rapid production of pre-leukemia stem cells. That in turn enables ADAR1 to go to work, interfering with gene expression in a way that helps those pre-leukemia stem cells turn into leukemia stem cells.

They also found when they blocked the action of ADAR1 or silenced the gene in patient cells in the laboratory, they were able to stop the formation of leukemia stem cells.

The study is published in the journal Cell Reports.

Blocking pancreatic cancer stem cells

/ Kevin McCormack / 3 Comments
John Cashman

Cancer stem cells are one of the main reasons why cancers are able to survive surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. They are able to hide from those therapies and, at a future date, emerge and spread the cancer in the body once again.

Jionglia Cheng, PhD.

Jionglia Cheng, PhD., the lead author of a new CIRM-funded study, says that’s one of the reasons why pancreatic cancer has proved so difficult to treat.

“Pancreatic cancer remains a major health problem in the United States and soon will be the second most common cause of mortality due to cancer. A majority of pancreatic cancer patients are often resistant to clinical therapies. Thus, it remains a challenge to develop an efficacious clinically useful pancreatic cancer therapy.”

Dr. Cheng, a researcher with ChemRegen Inc., teamed up with John Cashman at the Human BioMolecular Research Institute and identified a compound, that seems to be effective in blocking the cancer stem cells.

In earlier studies the compound, called PAWI-2, demonstrated effectiveness in blocking breast, prostate and colon cancer. When tested in the laboratory PAWI-2 showed it was able to kill pancreatic cancer stem cells, and also was effective in targeting drug-resistant pancreatic cancer stem cells.

In addition, when PAWI-2 was used with a drug called erlotinib (brand name Tarceva) which is commonly prescribed for pancreatic cancer, the combination proved more effective against the cancer stem cells than erlotinib alone.

In a news release Dr. Cheng said: “In the future, this molecule could be used alone or with other chemotherapy albeit at lower doses, as a new therapeutic drug to combat pancreatic cancer. This may lead to much less toxicity to the patient,”

The study is published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Newly developed biosensor can target leukemic stem cells

/ Yimy Villa / Leave a comment
Dr. Michael Milyavsky (left) and his research student Muhammad Yassin (right). Image courtesy of Tel Aviv University.

Every three minutes, one person in the United States is diagnosed with a blood cancer, which amounts to over 175,000 people every year. Every nine minutes, one person in the United States dies from a blood cancer, which is over 58,000 people every year. These eye opening statistics from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society demonstrate why almost one in ten cancer deaths in 2018 were blood cancer related.

For those unfamiliar with the term, a blood cancer is any type of cancer that begins in blood forming tissue, such as those found in the bone marrow. One example of a blood cancer is leukemia, which results in the production of abnormal blood cells. Chemotherapy and radiation are used to wipe out these cells, but the blood cancer can sometimes return, something known as a relapse.

What enables the return of a blood cancer such as leukemia ? The answer lies in the properties of cancer stem cells, which have the ability to multiply and proliferate and can resist the effects of certain types of chemotherapy and radiation. Researchers at Tel Aviv University are looking to decrease the rate of relapse in blood cancer by targeting a specific type of cancer stem cell known as a leukemic stem cell, which are often found to be the most malignant.

Dr. Michael Milyavsky and his team at Tel Aviv University have developed a biosensor that is able to isolate, label, and target specific genes found in luekemic stem cells. Their findings were published on January 31, 2019 in Leukemia.

In a press release Dr. Milyavsky said:

“The major reason for the dismal survival rate in blood cancers is the inherent resistance of leukemic stem cells to therapy, but only a minor fraction of leukemic cells have high regenerative potential, and it is this regeneration that results in disease relapse. A lack of tools to specifically isolate leukemic stem cells has precluded the comprehensive study and specific targeting of these stem cells until now.”

In addition to isolating and labeling leukemic stem cells, Dr. Milyavsky and his team were able to demonstrate that the leukemic stem cells labeled by their biosensor were sensitive to an inexpensive cancer drug, highlighting the potential this technology has in creating more patient-specific treatment options.

In the article, Dr. Milyavsky said:

” Using this sensor, we can perform personalized medicine oriented to drug screens by barcoding a patient’s own leukemia cells to find the best combination of drugs that will be able to target both leukemia in bulk as well as leukemia stem cells inside it.”

The researchers are now investigating genes that are active in leukemic stem cells in the hope finding other druggable targets.

CIRM has funded two clinical trials that also use a more targeted approach for cancer treatment. One of these trials uses an antibody to treat chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and the other trial uses a different antibody to treat acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

71 for Proposition 71

/ Geoffrey Lomax Dr. PH / 3 Comments

Proposition 71 is the state ballot initiative that created California’s Stem Cell Agency. This month, the Agency reached another milestone when the 71st clinical trial was initiated in the CIRM Alpha Stem Cell Clinics (ASCC) Network. The ASCC Network deploys specialized teams of doctors, nurses and laboratory technicians to conduct stem cell clinical trials at leading California Medical Centers.

StateClinics_Image_CMYK

These teams work with academic and industry partners to support patient-centered for over 40 distinct diseases including:

  • Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
  • Brain Injury & Stroke
  • Cancer at Multiple Sites
  • Diabetes Type 1
  • Eye Disease / Blindness Heart Failure
  • HIV / AIDS
  • Kidney Failure
  • Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID)
  • Sickle Cell Anemia
  • Spinal Cord Injury

These clinical trials have treated over 400 patients and counting. The Alpha Stem Cell Clinics are part of CIRM’s Strategic Infrastructure. The Strategic Infrastructure program which was developed to support the growth of stem cell / regenerative medicine in California. A comprehensive update of CIRM’s Infrastructure Program was provided to our Board, the ICOC.

CIRM’s infrastructure catalyzes stem cell / regenerative medicine by providing resources to all qualified researchers and organizations requiring specialized expertise. For example, the Alpha Clinics Network is supporting clinical trials from around the world.

Many of these trials are sponsored by commercial companies that have no CIRM funding. To date, the ASCC Network has over $27 million in contracts with outside sponsors. These contracts serve to leverage CIRMs investment and provide the Network’s medical centers with a diverse portfolio of clinical trials to address patients’’ unmet medical needs.

Alpha Clinics – Key Performance Metrics

  • 70+ Clinical Trials
  • 400+ Patients Treated
  • 40+ Disease Indications
  • Over $27 million in contracts with commercial sponsors

The CIRM Alpha Stem Cell Clinics and broader Infrastructure Programs are supporting stem cell research and regenerative medicine at every level, from laboratory research to product manufacturing to delivery to patients. This infrastructure has emerged to make California the world leader in regenerative medicine. It all started because California’s residents supported a ballot measure and today we have 71 clinical trials for 71.

 

 

How Tom Howing turned to stem cells to battle back against a deadly cancer

/ Kevin McCormack / 2 Comments

As we enter the new year, CIRM’s 2017 Annual Report will be posted in less than two weeks!  Here’s one of the people we are profiling in the report, a patient who took part in a CIRM-funded clinical trial.

Tom Howing

In March of 2015, Tom Howing was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. Over the next 18 months, he underwent two rounds of surgery and chemotherapy. Each time the treatments held the cancer at bay for a while. But each time the cancer returned. Tom was running out of options and hope when he heard about a CIRM-funded clinical trial using a new approach.

The clinical trial uses a therapy that blocks a protein called CD47 that is found on the surface of cancer cells, including cancer stem cells which can evade traditional therapies. CD47 acts as a ‘don’t eat me’ signal that tells immune cells not to kill off the cancer cells. When this ‘don’t eat me’ signal is blocked by the antibody, the patient’s immune system is able to identify, target and kill the cancer stem cells.

“When I was diagnosed with cancer I knew I had battle ahead of me. After the cancer came back again they recommended I try this CD47 clinical trial. I said absolutely, let’s give it a spin.

“I guess one is always a bit concerned whenever you put the adjective “experimental” in front of anything. But I’ve always been a very optimistic and positive person and have great trust and faith in my caregivers.

“Whenever you are dealing with a Phase 1 clinical trial (the earliest stage where the goal is first to make sure it is safe), there are lots of unknowns.  Scans and blood tests came back showing that the cancer appears to be held in check. My energy level is fantastic. The treatment that I had is so much less aggressive than chemo, my quality of life is just outstanding.”

Tom says he feels fortunate to be part of the clinical trial because it is helping advance research, and could ultimately help many others like him.

“The most important thing I would say is, I want people to know there is always hope and to stay positive.”

He says he feels grateful to the people of California who created CIRM and the funding behind this project: “I say a very heartfelt thank you, that this was a good investment and a good use of public funds.”

He also wants the researchers, who spent many years developing this approach, to know that they are making a difference.

“To all those people who are putting in all the hours at the bench and microscope, it’s important for them to know that they are making a huge impact on the lives of real people and they should celebrate it and revel in it and take great pride in it.”

Protein that turns normal cells into cancer stem cells offers target to fight colon cancer

/ Kevin McCormack / 2 Comments

colon-cancer

Colon cancer: Photo courtesy WebMD

Colon cancer is a global killer. Each year more than one million people worldwide are diagnosed with it; more than half a million die from it. If diagnosed early enough the standard treatment involves surgery, chemotherapy, radiation or targeted drug therapy to destroy the tumors. In many cases this may work. But in some cases, while this approach helps put people in remission, eventually the cancer returns, spreads throughout the body, and ultimately proves fatal.

Now researchers may have identified a protein that causes normal cells to become cancerous, and turn into cancer stem cells (CSCs). This discovery could help provide a new target for anti-cancer therapies.

Cancer stem cells are devilishly tricky. While most cancer cells are killed by chemotherapy or other therapies, cancer stem cells are able to lie dormant and hide, then emerge later to grow and spread, causing the person to relapse and the cancer to return.

In a study published in Nature Research’s Scientific Reports, researchers at SU Health New Orleans School of Medicine and Stanley S. Scott Cancer Center identified a protein, called SATB2, that appears to act as an “on/off” switch for specific genes inside a cancer cell.

In normal, healthy colorectal tissue SATB2 is not active, but in colorectal cancer it is highly active, found in around 85 percent of tumors. So, working with mice, the researchers inserted extra copies of the SATB2 gene, which produced more SATB2 protein in normal colorectal tissue. They found that this produced profound changes in the cell, leading to uncontrolled cell growth. In effect it turned a normal cell into a cancer stem cell.

As the researchers state in their paper:

“These data suggest that SATB2 can transform normal colon epithelial cells to CSCs/progenitor-like cells which play significant roles in cancer initiation, promotion and metastasis.”

When the researchers took colorectal cancer cells and inhibited SATB2 they found that this not only suppressed the growth of the cancer and it’s ability to spread, it also prevented those cancer cells from becoming cancer stem cells.

In a news release about the study Dr. Rakesh Srivastava,  the senior author on the paper, said the findings are important:

“Since the SATB2 protein is highly expressed in the colorectal cell lines and tissues, it can be an attractive target for therapy, diagnosis and prognosis.”

Because SATB2 is found in other cancers too, such as breast cancer, these findings may hold significance for more than just colorectal cancer.

The next step is to repeat the study in mice that have been genetically modified to better reflect the way colon cancer shows up in people. The team hope this will not only confirm their findings, but also give them a deeper understanding of the role that SATB2 plays in cancer formation and spread.

Stem Cell Stories That Caught Our Eye: Three new ways to target cancer stem cells

/ Karen Ring / Leave a comment

Here are some stem cell stories that caught our eye this past week. Some are groundbreaking science, others are of personal interest to us, and still others are just fun.

Targeting cancer stem cells. This week, three studies came out with novel ways for targeting cancer stem cells in different types of cancers. Here’s a brief run-down of this trifecta of cancer stem cell-crushing stories:

Take your vitamins! Scientists in the UK were experimenting on cancer stem cells and comparing natural substances to on-the-market cancer drugs to determine whether any of the natural substances were effective at disrupting the metabolism (the chemical reactions that keep cells alive and functioning) of cancer stem cells. Interestingly, they found that ascorbic acid, which you’ll know as Vitamin C, was ten times better at curbing cancer stem cell growth compared to a cancer drug called 2-DG.

Vitamin C has popped up as an anti-cancer treatment in the past when Nobel Laureate Linus Pauling found that it dramatically reduced the death rate in breast cancer patients. However this current study is the first to show that Vitamin C has a direct effect on cancer stem cells.

In coverage by ScienceDaily, the UK team hinted at plans to test Vitamin C in clinical trials:

“Vitamin C is cheap, natural, non-toxic and readily available so to have it as a potential weapon in the fight against cancer would be a significant step. Our results indicate it is a promising agent for clinical trials, and a as an add-on to more conventional therapies, to prevent tumour recurrence, further disease progression and metastasis.”

 

A gene called ZEB1 determines how aggressive brain tumors are. A team from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center was interested to know how cancer stem cells in aggressive brain tumors called gliomas survive, reproduce and affect patient survival. In a study published in Scientific Reports, they studied the genetic information of over 4000 brain tumor samples and found ZEB1, a gene that regulates tumor growth and is associated with patient survival.

They found that patients with a healthy copy of the ZEB1 gene had a higher survival rate and less aggressive tumors compared to patients that didn’t have ZEB1 or had a mutated version of the gene.

In coverage by ScienceDaily, the senior author on the study explained how their study’s findings will allow for more personalized treatments for patients with glioma based on whether they have ZEB1 or not:

“Patients without the gene in their tumors have more aggressive cancers that act like stem cells by developing into an uncontrollable number of cell types. This new information could help us to measure the mutation in these patients so that we are able to provide a more accurate prognosis and treatment plan.”

 

Beating resistant tumors by squashing cancer stem cells. Our final cancer stem cell story today comes from the UCLA School of Dentistry. This team is studying another type of aggressive cancer called a squamous cell carcinoma that causes tumors in the head and neck. Often these tumors resist treatment and spread to a patient’s lymph nodes, which quickly reduces their survival rate.

The UCLA team thought that maybe pesky cancer stem cells were to blame for the aggressive and resistant nature of these head and neck tumors. In a study published in Cell Stem Cell, they developed a mouse model of head and neck carcinoma and isolated cancer stem cells from the tumors of these mice. When they studied these stem cells, they found that they expressed unique proteins compared to non-cancer cells. These included Bmi1, a well-known stem cell protein, and AP-1, a transcription factor protein that regulates other cancer genes.

At left, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma invasive growth, and at right, cancer stem cells (shown in red) in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. (Image Demeng Chen and Cun-Yu Wang/UCLA)

After identifying the culprits, the team developed a new combination strategy that targeted the cancer stem cells while also killing off the tumors using chemotherapy drugs.

In a UCLA Newsroom press release, the lead scientist on the study Dr. Cun-Yu Wang explained the importance of their study for the future treatment of cancer and solid tumors:

“This study shows that for the first time, targeting the proliferating tumor mass and dormant cancer stem cells with combination therapy effectively inhibited tumor growth and prevented metastasis compared to monotherapy in mice. Our discovery could be applied to other solid tumors such as breast and colon cancer, which also frequently metastasizes to lymph nodes or distant organs.”