Posted on 12/22/2006 4:53:04 PM PST by Coleus
DUARTE, Calif. -- Patients with advanced cancer that has spread to many different sites often do not have many treatment options, since they would be unable to tolerate the doses of treatment they would need to kill the tumors. Researchers at City of Hope and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital may have found a way to treat cancers that have spread throughout the body more effectively. They used modified neural stem cells to activate and concentrate chemotherapeutic drugs predominately at tumor sites, so that normal tissue surrounding the tumor and throughout the body remain relatively unharmed.
"This approach could significantly improve future treatme nt options for patients with metastatic cancer," said Karen Aboody, M.D., assistant professor of Hematology/Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation and Neurosciences at City of Hope. "It not only has the potential to destroy residual tumor cells, but it should also improve patients' quality of life by minimizing toxic side effects such as nausea, diarrhea or bone marrow suppression." Aboody is the lead investigator of the study done in collaboration with senior investigator Mary Danks, Ph.D., associate member of Molecular Pharmacology at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. The study will be published Dec. 20 in PLoS ONE. A second paper with extended results from the study has been accepted for publication in Cancer Research in January. Most chemotherapy drugs affect both normal and cancerous tissue, which is why they also are toxic to naturally fast-growing cells in the body such as hair follicles and intestinal cells. Aboody and her colleagues have developed a two-part system to infiltrate metastatic tumor sites, and then activate a chemotherapeutic drug, thereby localizing the drug's effects to the tumor cells.
The technique takes advantage of the tendency for invasive tumors to attract neural stem cells. The researchers injected modified neural stem/progenitor cells into immunosuppressed mice that had been given neuroblastoma cells, which then formed tumors. After waiting a few days to allow the stem cells to migrate to the tumors, researchers administered a precursor-drug. When it reached the stem cells, the drug interacted with an enzyme the stem cells expressed, and was converted into an active drug that kills surrounding tumor cells. The precursor-drugs were administered for two weeks, then after a two-week break, a second round of stem/progenitor cells and drugs were administered.
One hundred percent of the neuroblastoma mice appe ared healthy and tumor-free at six months. Without treatment, all the neuroblastoma mice died within two-and-a-half months. The results hold promise for treating solid tumors that metastasize including neuroblastoma, which represents 6 percent to 10 percent of all childhood cancers worldwide, with higher proportions in children under 2 years of age. "The results are especially important in the case of high-risk neuroblastoma, because treatment-resistant cancer returns in as many as 80 percent of children, and the majority die of their disease," said co-principal investigator Danks. Aboody and her colleagues had previously published the efficacy of this technique in primary and metastatic tumors in the brain. This is the first research to demonstrate that it is also effective in a metastatic cancer model, targeting multiple solid tumor sites spread throughout the body. They speculate that the technique could also be applie d to other malignant solid tumors, including colon, brain, prostate and breast cancer, and are planning future preclinical trials using those tumors as well.
Disclaimer
The following press releases refer to a selection of the upcoming articles in PLoS ONE. They are contributed by the article authors and/or their institutions. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff or the editors of PLoS ONE. The research was funded by grants from the National Cancer Institute, Stop Cancer Foundation, Phi Beta Psi Sorority, the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation, the Neidorf Family Foundation, the Marcus Foundation and ALSAC.
About City of Hope
City of Hope is a leading research and treatment center for cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases. Designated as a Comprehensive Cancer Center, the highest honor bestowed by the National Cancer Institute, and a founding member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, City of Hope's research and treatment protocols impact care throughout the nation. Founded in 1913, City of Hope is a pioneer in the fields of bone marrow transplantation and genetics and shares its scientific knowledge with medic al centers locally and globally, helping patients battling serious diseases. For more information, visit www.cityofhope.org. Citation: Aboody KS, Bush RA, Garcia E, Metz MZ, Najbauer J, et al (2006) Development of a Tumor-Selective Approach to Treat Metastatic Cancer. PLoS ONE 1(1): e23. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0000023 PLEASE ADD THE LINK TO THE PUBLISHED ARTICLE IN ONLINE VERSIONS OF YOUR REPORT: http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0000023 PRESS ONLY PREVIEW OF THE ARTICLE: http://www.plos.org/press/pone-01-01-aboody.pdf
"The cell line used in this study (HB1.F3.C1) was derived from fetal telencephalon cells..."
I used to think awhile back that St. Jude's was a Catholic hospital...How wrong I was. It's private, and uses St. Jude of Thaddeus' name. I wonder how many Catholics out there erroniously donate to it, thinking their money will not be funding things like embryonic stem cell research.
From their mehods..."The HB1.F3.C1 cell line is a multipotent, cloned cell line that was generated by immortalizing cells obtained from the telencephalon of a human fetus of 15 weeks’ gestation, using a retrovirus encoding the v-myc gene [17,23]. The primary cells were obtained in accordance with the Guidelines of the Anatomical Pathology Department of Vancouver General Hospital, with permission to use fetal tissue granted by the Clinical Research Screening Committee Involving Human Subjects of the University of British Columbia. HB1.F3.C1 is an established, well-characterized, stable cell line [23–27]. HB1...."
Does any of the information you have indicate how these cells were obtained? Specifically, do you know if the fetal tissue was available to researchers as the result of being intentionally aborted?
"The cell line used in this study (HB1.F3.C1) was derived from fetal telencephalon cells..."
>I used to think awhile back that St. Jude's was a Catholic hospital...How wrong I was. It's private, and uses St. Jude of Thaddeus' name. I wonder how many Catholics out there erroniously donate to it, thinking their money will not be funding things like embryonic stem cell research.
These were not embryonic stem cells. >>>
right, they are fetal cells from a 15-week-old aborted baby.
Payment and Charges
"St. Jude provides medical care to its patients at no cost to the patient or the patient's family. If you have insurance, St. Jude will bill that insurance company or other third-party payers for medical services provided by the hospital. You are required to help St. Jude comply with the insurance company's needs. Even so, you will pay no co-pays or deductibles. ALSAC will cover all direct costs of St. Jude medical care not covered by insurance or third-party payers.
ALSAC was founded for the purpose of supporting St. Jude. If you do not have insurance, you will be referred to our MedAssist office to see if we can find insurance coverage for your child. If you have questions about payment, charges, or insurance, talk with a staff mmember in Patient Registration".
God Bless Them..sw
I read all that, but not being a scientist, understand very little of it. There seems to be no way of knowing how this fetal issue was obtained. At any rate, these are not FETAL stem cells, therefore it seems there is no restriction on their use.
Actually St. Jude's was started by Danny Thomas, a devout Catholic, but has no formal ties with the Catholic church.
>aborted baby
Source?
Source? >>
check the pdf link from the artile.
>>check the pdf link from the artile.
I did. It does not say aborted.
Actually, the stem cells were harvested from an intentionally aborted 15 week old alive (at one time) baby in fetal age. The cells were fetal stem cells, cells destined to become different tissues in the brain/nervous system of a child purposely aborted (for what purpose I do not know, probably just to relieve the woman of life support responsibilities).
How do you KNOW that?
"There seems to be no way of knowing how this fetal issue was obtained." Read 'The primary cells were obtained in accordance with the Guidelines of the Anatomical Pathology Department of Vancouver General Hospital, with permission to use fetal tissue granted by the Clinical Research Screening Committee Involving Human Subjects of the University of British Columbia.' Pathology dept. harvests tissues from aborted children for research programs. The key is 'pathology', though in this instance the 'pathology dept.' is not looking for a cause of death.
That does not mean they were from aborted fetuses. It may be that they were from miscarried fetuses. That does happen from time to time, you know.
Do you actually care one way or the other? Or are you just being argumentative as usual? You could satisfy your curiosity (if you care) by going to the website for the org whose 'pathology committee' approved the harvesting protocols that netted the fetal cells which were 'immortalized' then used for these research exercises. But then, I suspect you don't care if the babies were aborted or died of natural causes so long as 'their tissues were not wasted'.
I did. It does not say aborted. >>>
then you must really be in the dark.
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