Therapeutic stem cells
Researchers at the University of North Carolina, working under the leadership of Dr. Shawn Hingtgen, have demonstrated the possibility of destroying tumor cells and increasing the lifespan of mouse models of medulloblastoma with the help of hunting stem cells derived from skin cells.
Earlier, the authors demonstrated the inherent ability of neural stem cells to migrate to the tumor growth zone and began to study them as carriers for targeted delivery of chemotherapy drugs, the use of which will reduce toxicity to the entire body.
They have already used nerve stem cells derived from skin cells in preclinical studies on an animal model of glioblastoma, the most deadly type of adult brain cancer. In their latest work, they demonstrated the effectiveness of the developed approach on mouse models of medulloblastoma, another type of brain cancer that mainly affects children.
The use of modern methods of chemo- and radiotherapy after surgical removal of the tumor provides a 5-year survival rate of more than 70% of patients with the usual form of the disease. However, not all patients respond to the treatment, which can be very toxic to the developing child's brain and cause neurological disorders.
The authors developed a mouse model of medulloblastoma to simulate the standard therapy of the disease – surgical removal of the tumor followed by chemotherapy. Using this model, they demonstrated that the operation can remove up to 92% of the tumor, but at the same time accelerates the growth of preserved cancer cells by 3 times compared to the rate of tumor growth before surgery.
After that, they reprogrammed mouse skin cells into neural stem cells and, with the help of genetic modification, endowed them with the ability to produce a compound that acquires toxicity under the influence of another substance.
The introduction of such cells into the cavity remaining after surgical removal of medulloblastoma in the mouse brain provided a reduction in residual tumor tissue by 15 times and increased the life expectancy of animals by 133% (2.3 times).
As a first step towards developing an autologous therapy for human medulloblastoma, researchers conducted similar experiments using human stem cells. Such therapy also suppressed secondary tumor growth and increased the life expectancy of the mouse model by 123%.
Experts are very inspired by the effectiveness of the new approach and suggest that it can be used in the treatment of various types of brain cancer, including developing in children.
Article by Onyinyechukwu Okolie et al. Intra-cavity stem cell therapy inhibits tumor progression in a novel murine model of medulloblastoma surgical resection published in the journal PLOS ONE.
Evgenia Ryabtseva, portal "Eternal Youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of the University of North Carolina School of Medicine: Stem cells show promise as drug delivery tool for childhood brain cancer.