weian zhao

Developing a non-toxic approach to bone-crushing cancers

/ Kevin McCormack / Leave a comment
When cancer spreads to the bone the results can be devastating

Battling cancer is always a balancing act. The methods we use – surgery, chemotherapy and radiation – can help remove the tumors but they often come at a price to the patient. In cases where the cancer has spread to the bone the treatments have a limited impact on the disease, but their toxicity can cause devastating problems for the patient. Now, in a CIRM-supported study, researchers at UC Irvine (UCI) have developed a method they say may be able to change that.

Bone metastasis – where cancer starts in one part of the body, say the breast, but spreads to the bones – is one of the most common complications of cancer. It can often result in severe pain, increased risk of fractures and compression of the spine. Tackling them is difficult because some cancer cells can alter the environment around bone, accelerating the destruction of healthy bone cells, and that in turn creates growth factors that stimulate the growth of the cancer. It is a vicious cycle where one problem fuels the other.

Now researchers at UCI have developed a method where they combine engineered mesenchymal stem cells (taken from the bone marrow) with targeting agents. These act like a drug delivery device, offloading different agents that simultaneously attack the cancer but protect the bone.

Weian Zhao; photo courtesy UC Irvine

In a news release Weian Zhao, lead author of the study, said:

“What’s powerful about this strategy is that we deliver a combination of both anti-tumor and anti-bone resorption agents so we can effectively block the vicious circle between cancers and their bone niche. This is a safe and almost nontoxic treatment compared to chemotherapy, which often leaves patients with lifelong issues.”

The research, published in the journal EBioMedicine, has already been shown to be effective in mice. Next, they hope to be able to do the safety tests to enable them to apply to the Food and Drug Administration for permission to test it in people.

The team say if this approach proves effective it might also be used to help treat other bone-related diseases such as osteoporosis and multiple myeloma.

UC Irvine scientists engineer stem cells to “feel” cancer and destroy it

/ Todd Dubnicoff / 3 Comments

By blocking cell division, chemotherapy drugs take advantage of the fact that cancer cells multiply rapidly in the body. Though this treatment can extend and even save the lives of cancer patients, it’s somewhat like destroying an ant hill with an atomic bomb: there’s a lot of collateral damage. The treatment is infused through the blood so healthy cells that also divide frequently – like those in hair follicles, the intestines and bone marrow – succumb to the chemotherapy. To add insult to injury, cancers often become resistant to these drugs and metastasize, or invade, other parts of the body. Sadly, this spreading of a cancer is responsible for 90% of cancer deaths.

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UCI doctoral students Shirley Zhang, left, and Linan Liu are co-leading authors of the study. Photo: UC Irvine

Developing more specific, effective anti-cancer therapies is the focus of many research institutes and companies. While some new strategies target cell surface proteins that are unique to cancer cells, a UC Irvine (UCI) team has devised a stem cell-based technique that can seek out and destroy breast cancer cells that have metastasized in the lungs of mice by sensing the stiffness of the surrounding tissue. The CIRM-funded study was published this week in Science Translational Medicine.

While cells make up the tissues and organs of our bodies, they also secrete proteins and molecules that form a scaffold between cells called the extracellular matrix. This cell scaffolding is not just structural, it also plays a key role in regulating cell growth and other functions. And previous studies have shown that at sites of tumors, accumulation of collagen and other proteins in the matrix increases tissue stiffness and promotes metastasis.

Based on this knowledge, the UCI team aimed to create a cell system that would release chemotherapy drugs in response to increased stiffness. It turns out that mesenchymal stem cells – which give rise to bone, muscle, cartilage and fat – not only migrate to tumors in the body but also activate particular genes in response to the stiffness of their local cellular environment.  The researchers engineered mesenchymal stem cells to carry a gene that codes for a protein involved in the activation of a chemotherapy drug which is given by mouth. They also designed the gene to turn on only when it encounters stiff, cancerous tissue. They called the method a mechanoresponsive cell system (MRCS).

To test the MRCS, mice were infused with human breast cancer cells, which metastasized or spread to the lung. The MRCS-engineered mesenchymal stem cells were infused through the blood and homed to the lungs where they activated the chemotherapy drug which caused localized killing of the tumor cells with minimal damage to lung tissue. When the MRSC stem cells were given to mice without tumors, no increase in tissue damage was seen, proving that the MRSC-induced chemotherapy drug is only activated in the presence of cancerous tissue and has few side effects.

In a press release, team leader Weian Zhao, explained that these promising results could have wide application:

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Weian Zhao
Photo: UC Irvine

“This published work is focused on breast cancer metastases in the lungs. However, the technology will be applicable to other metastases as well, because many solid tumors have the hallmark of being stiffer than normal tissue. This is why our system is innovative and powerful, as we don’t have to spend the time to identify and develop a new genetic or protein marker for every kind of cancer.”

 

The team envisions even more applications. The MRCS could be engineered to carry genes that would enable detection with imaging technologies like PET scans. In this scenario, the MRCS could act as a highly sensitive detection system for finding areas of very early metastases when current techniques would miss them. They could also design the MRCS to activate genes that code for proteins that can break down and soften the stiff cancerous tissues which may inhibit the ability for a tumor to spread.