In a groundbreaking study (click on title for abstract), just published and not yet picked up by the media, researchers from the Departments of Anatomy and Physiology and Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology at the College of Veterinary Medicine in Kansas State University in Kansas, reported in the February edition of the journal "Cancer Research" that "Rat Umbilical Cord Stem Cells Completely Abolish Rat Mammary Carcinomas with No Evidence of Metastasis or Recurrence 100 Days Post-Tumor Cell Inoculation."
What they did was that they transplanted Fisher 344 rat-derived mammary adenocarcinoma cells (Mat B III-breast cancer) orthotopically (meaning into the breast of the female rats) into syngeneic (related) F344 rats with an intact immune system. Then they injected rat umbilical cord matrix stem (rUCMS) cells derived from Wharton's jelly, intratumoral (i.t. meaning into the tumor) or i.v. (into the veins of the animals) 4 days later.
Then they compared the tumor attenuation effect (meaning how the tumor was suppressed-fought / extinguished) at day 14 after the injection in the tumor or in the veins in cord blood stem cell-transplanted rats compared with sham-transplanted rats (meaning animals that received an injection but no stem cells). What they saw was amazing!
Unmodified rUCMS cord blood stem cell-transplanted rats showed complete regression of tumors to undetectable levels by 34 to 38 days with no evidence of metastasis or recurrence 100 days post-tumor cell inoculation (injection in the tumor). They concluded that their findings suggest that "unmodified human UCMS cells (cord blood stem cells from the Wharton's jelly of the umbilical cord) could be used for targeted cytotherapy for breast cancer".
Well, this is REALLY something to look out for, isn't it?! [Cancer Res 2009; 69(5): 1815-20]
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
3 comments:
Hi,
This finding is very interesting. What would the reasoning be behind the fact that stem cells derived from rat cord matrix would have this effect?
Additionally, is there any benefit for administering a "drug" intra-tumorally and are there any other examples where this is done?
Dear Anonymous!
Cord Blood stem cells and in particular Wharton's jelly matrix contain a lot of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) that are known to attack tumorous cells. The immunobiology of those MSC is currently under intense study in treating cancers and autoimmune diseases even bypassing the tolerance effect, meaning that MSC can under appropriate conditions be used independent of tissue type.
As you may have noticed the researchers used 2 administration ways,IV and IT to try and distinguish if either way was more effective than the other without any differences noted. The IV administered Dye-loaded cord blood stem cells were identified within tumors only 4 days after their i.v. transplantation! So they find their way to the target! Intratumor administration is a widely used strategy in tumor treatment today but is usually an ablative/destructive one, meaning that the treatment is generic and similar to all cancers, like alcohol or similar agents instillation in the tumor to cause tumor necrosis and shrinkage before chemotherapy or surgery. Or agents that block blood circulation to the tumor to cause similar effects.
Genetically engineered stem cells have been experimentally seen to efficiently deliver therapeutic proteins to cancer and other sites of inflammation. What the authors wanted to study was whether tumor-trafficking stem cells that have not been genetically modified would exhibit an inherent antitumor effect thus offering a major advantage by circumventing the necessity of the expression of exogenous genes by the cells. Simply put, instead of putting warheads (genes that kill the cancer specific for different cancers) specific for the target (cancer) on missiles ,could the missiles (cord blood stem cells) be enough to destroy the target?
greetings Dr Kostas
In my very strong opinion, banking cord blood should not be controversial what-so-ever. In fact, due to the benefits the cord blood may one day offer if ever necessary, banking it should become a requirement or automatic. The only thing that should be controversial is the COST involved.
Post a Comment