Tampa, FL -
We have previously discussed the importance of mimicking the physiological environment when studying different types of stem cells, so why would this not be true also for tumor stem cells? Specifically, it is known that hematopoietic stem cells reside in the hypoxic niche of the bone marrow. This can also be said of neural progenitors. Both of these...
Cedex, France -
The cancer stem cell appears to exist as a small fraction of the tumor mass that it relatively quiescent and resistant to killing by numerous types of chemotherapies because it has a set of drug efflux pumps. One characteristic of cancer stem cells in tissues such as colon, lungFriday February 13th, 2009 @ 12:46:47 EST
San Diego, CA -
Endometrial Regenerative Cells (ERC) are a population of adherent pluripotent stem cells that share certain features with mesenchymal stem cells such as ability to differentiate into bone, cartilage and fat, as well as numerous surface markers (CD90, CD105, CD73). Interestingly, endometrial regenerative cells also have...
Buffalo, New York -
The tumor stem cell concept implies a small self-renewing population of cells in a tumor mass is responsible for maintaining the bulk of the tumor which comprises primarily of differentiated cells. This was demonstrated by O'Brien et al in the case of colon cancer in which only the small, quiescent, CD133 cells from the tumor were capable of causing tumor...
Ehime, Japan -
Cancer vaccines are attractive because of their general lack of toxicity, their ability to selectively destroy malignant tissue, as well as possibility of preventing micrometastasis. Immunotherapy of cancer has been attempted for more than a century, however conflicting results and lack of clear-cut benefit in Phase III...
San Diego, CA -
It has been widely known for more than a century that activation of immune responses can in some situations cause tumors to regress. This has been the basis for thousands of clinical trials using various proteins as therapeutic vaccines, which aim at inducing the immune system to kill cancer. These trials have had mixed results. One...
Lausanne, Switzerland -
The concept of a cancer stem cell, or "seed cell" that replenishes and sustains the tumor mass is gaining more and more momentum in scientific and corporate circles. An example, of course, is the Oncomed-GSK deal that is estimated to be worth approximately 1.5 billion dollars, despite Oncomed being only in...
Wuhan, China - The concept of cancer stem cells has been around for a while. One could say that initially the concept of cancer stem cells was discovered in the hematopoietic system where the group of Dr Dick from Toronto was able to induce human leukemias in mice with injection of as little as 5-10 cells per mouse. Under normal circumstances if one takes leukemic blasts from patients...
Ann Arbor, MI - The concept of a stem cell found within tumor populations that maintains the tumor mass has been around for more than a decade. Patents one using stem cells for screening of new cancer agents have driven the recent GSK-OncoMed deal that in total could be worth approximately $1.5...
London, UK, Philadelphia, PA and Redwood City, CA - It was recently announced that the California venture capital backed company OncoMed has struck a deal with GlaxoSmithKline that could be worth up to 1.5 Billion in milestone payments alone, not counting royalties. Arguably this is one of the highest valued deals for a technology that is still preclinical. In...