[Infowarrior] - Cancer Stem Cells Created in Lab

[Richard Forno]

Cancer Stem Cells Created in Lab
04.08.08, 8:00 PM ET
http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/health/feeds/hscout/2008/04/09/hscout614381
.html

WEDNESDAY, April 9 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers at Stanford University
have succeeded in transforming skin cells into what appear to be cancer stem
cells, in a feat that could propel cancer research forward.

Cancer stem cells are thought to start the unhindered proliferation of cells
which ultimately results in cancer.

"This has the potential for unlocking some of the secrets of cancer," said
Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer of the American Cancer
Society, which supported the study.

"This means that now you have a good way to study cancer cells and the
mechanisms involved versus getting a piece of the tumor," added Paul
Sanberg, distinguished professor of neurosurgery and director of the
University of South Florida Center for Aging and Brain Repair in Tampa.
"Here, you have more control, more ability to look at genetic consequences
and the effects of developing new therapies."

"This might allow you to identify cancers that are going to be more
aggressive earlier on and allow you to tailor therapies," noted Dr. Fabrice
Roegiers, co-director of the Keystone Program for Epigenetics and Progenitor
Cells at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. "In the future, being able
to identify which cancers are really being driven by the stem cell
population will allow us to target those sooner."

The work, published in the April 10 issue of Cell Stem Cell, also noted that
cancer stem cells are closer to embryonic stem cells (which can develop into
all tissue types) than adult stem cells (which are more limited in what
types of tissue they can become). This discovery could shed light on how
tumors originate.

Thus far, however, researchers have been hindered in their efforts to
understand this type of cell, because they are rare and difficult to grow in
the lab. And, added Roegiers, there is still some controversy as to whether
this type of cell actually exists in tumors.

For this study, researchers reviewed existing data on gene expression
patterns in various stem cell populations and ultimately came up with two
different groups: one that is closer to most adult stem cells and one that's
closer to embryonic stem cells.

They were also able to detect the "signature" of the embryonic stem cells in
certain tumor samples and to note that these tumors tended to be more
aggressive.

The findings have implications for future therapies that might be derived
from stem cells. The researchers found that one oncogene, "Myc," seems to be
a key regulator in converting skin cells to stem cells. But when
overexpressed, this gene can induce tumors. If stem cells are created with
Myc, then put back into a patient for therapy, there is also the possibility
that it will stimulate cancer growth.

"As they're clearly showing, Myc is capable of reprogramming cells into stem
cells, but it does that in tumors as well," Roegiers said. "It will be
really important to see what Myc is doing and whether it's possible to
create these types of stem cells in the lab in a way that will not threaten
people when you introduce these cells."