Stopping brain cancer in its tracks. Scientists at Stanford Medicine discovered that you can halt aggressive brain cancers called high-grade gliomas by cutting off their supply of a signaling protein called neuroligin-3. Their research, which was funded by CIRM and the NIH, was published this week in the journal Nature. The Stanford team, led by … Continue reading Stem Cell Stories That Caught Our Eye: Halting Brain Cancer, Parkinson’s disease and Stem Cell Awareness Day
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Taming the Zika virus to kill cancer stem cells that drive lethal brain tumor
An out of control flame can be very dangerous, even life-threatening. But when harnessed, that same flame sustains life in the form of warm air, a source of light, and a means to cook. A similar duality holds true for viruses. Once it infects the body, a virus can replicate like wildfire and cause serious … Continue reading Taming the Zika virus to kill cancer stem cells that drive lethal brain tumor
Brain stem cells unintentionally talk with brain tumors, allowing their spread
A stem cell’s capacity to lay quiet and, when needed, to self-renew plays a key role in restoring and maintaining the health of our organs. Unfortunately, cancer stem cells possess that same property allowing them to evade radiation and chemotherapy treatments which leads to tumor regrowth. And a CIRM-funded study published today in Cell shows … Continue reading Brain stem cells unintentionally talk with brain tumors, allowing their spread
Genetically engineered immune cells melt away deadly brain tumors
Cancers come in many different forms. Some are treatable if caught early and other aren’t. One of the most deadly types of cancers are glioblastomas - a particularly aggressive form of brain tumor. Patients diagnosed with glioblastoma have an average life expectancy of 12-15 months and there is no cure or effective treatment that extends … Continue reading Genetically engineered immune cells melt away deadly brain tumors
Stem cell stories that caught our eye: Horse patients, Brain cancer stem cells, and a Bony Heart
Horsing around at the World Stem Cell Summit The World Stem Cell Summit (WSCS) is coming up very shortly (December 6-9) in lovely downtown West Palm Beach, Florida. And this year it has an added attraction; horses. For my money the WSCS is the most enjoyable of the many conferences held around the US focusing … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: Horse patients, Brain cancer stem cells, and a Bony Heart
Achilles’ Heel of Brain Cancer Identified in Tumor Stem Cells
Few words strike me with more dread than glioblastoma, the name for a very aggressive, incurable cancer of the brain. Although surgery and chemotherapy can help hold off or reverse a glioblastoma’s growth for a while, almost inevitably the tumor comes back along with a terrible prognosis: an average survival time of 12 to 15 … Continue reading Achilles’ Heel of Brain Cancer Identified in Tumor Stem Cells
Funding a clinical trial for deadly cancer is a no brainer
The beast of cancers For a disease that is supposedly quite rare, glioblastoma seems to be awfully common. I have lost two friends to the deadly brain cancer in the last few years. Talking to colleagues and friends here at CIRM, it’s hard to find anyone who doesn’t know someone who has died of it. … Continue reading Funding a clinical trial for deadly cancer is a no brainer
The Man Behind the Curtain: Protein Helps Keep Cancer Cells Alive and Kicking
Being diagnosed with brain cancer comes with a sobering sentence: even with the most aggressive treatments, life expectancy for the most common form of brain cancer—called glioblastoma—is less than two years. One of the key culprits, many scientists now believe, are cancer stem cells. Cancer stem cells are a subset of cancer cells that have … Continue reading The Man Behind the Curtain: Protein Helps Keep Cancer Cells Alive and Kicking
Perfecting the use of stem cells as drug delivery mules shows promise in brain tumors
Stem cells loaded with cancer-killing herpes virus (red) attacking a brain tumor cell (green). Courtesy HSCIThe innate tendency of stem cells to seek out inflammation—combined with the fact that our bodies see tumors as inflammation—has led many teams to try to harness stem cells as delivery vehicles for cancer therapies. CIRM funds a team at … Continue reading Perfecting the use of stem cells as drug delivery mules shows promise in brain tumors
The Stem Cellar 