Researchers from the UNC School of Medicine, University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, and UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy have teamed up to develop a stem cell treatment for childhood brain cancer. The researchers are using stem cells as a delivery mechanism that propels anti-cancer drugs to the site of the cancer cells.
The cancer-hunting stem cells used by this treatment are developed from skin cells. When transfused into a patient the stem cells deliver a drug that can destroy any medulloblastoma cells hiding after surgery.
Previous studies have demonstrated that it was possible to turn skin cells into stem cells that can deliver cancer drugs. This study shows that the treatment is effective. It was able to shrink laboratory models of medulloblastoma, a dangerous form of brain cancer that often affects children. The next step is to arrange clinical trials where the procedure will be tested on children.
Currently, about 70 percent of patients with medulloblastoma survive for at least 5 years on standard treatments. However, many patients do not respond to treatments and the side effects of treatment can be quite extreme, including neurological and developmental problems.
As senior researcher Dr. Shawn Hingtgen explains “Children with medulloblastoma receive chemotherapy and radiation, which can be very toxic to the developing brain. If we could use this strategy to eliminate or reduce the amount of chemotherapy or radiation that patients receive, there could be quality-of-life benefits.”
By delivering drugs directly to the site of the medulloblastoma, researchers can limit the amount of damage that the drugs cause to other cells. This innovative drug delivery technique was developed a number of years ago and awarded a Nobel prize in 2012.
The research team began by reprogramming skin cells into stem cells. These cells were then genetically modified to include a substance that becomes toxic when exposed to another drug (called a “pro-drug”). The stem cells are naturally drawn to the site of the brain injury, where they are triggered to become toxic to the cancer cells.
The technique could save the lives of thousands of children each year.
Source: Stem cells show promise as drug delivery tool for childhood brain cancer
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