Cancer Stem Cell News Volume 2.26 | Jul 3 2013

Highly Penetrative, Drug-Loaded Nanocarriers Improve Treatment of Glioblastoma
Scientists identified several agents (from Food and Drug Administration-approved products) that potently inhibit proliferation and self-renewal of brain cancer stem cells (BCSCs). When loaded into brain-penetrating nanoparticles and administered by convection-enhanced delivery, one of these agents, dithiazanine iodide, significantly increased survival in rats bearing BCSC-derived xenografts. [Proc Natl Acad Sci USA] Abstract

ATP Citrate Lyase Knockdown Impacts Cancer Stem Cells In Vitro
Because epithelial-mesenchymal transition is often associated with processes that induce stemness, researchers hypothesized that ATP citrate lyase knockdown impacts cancer stem cells. By assessing tumorsphere formation and expression of stem cell markers, they showed this to be the case in A549 cells, which harbor a Ras mutation, and in two other non-small-cell lung cancer cell lines, H1975 and H1650, driven by activating EGFR mutations. [Cell Death Dis] Full Article

Primary Breast Cancer Stem-Like Cells Metastasize to Bone, Switch Phenotype and Acquire a Bone Tropism Signature
Scientists used a human-in-mice model to study bone metastasis formation due to primary breast cancer stem cells-like colonization. [Br J Cancer] Abstract

Paired Related Homoeobox 1, a New EMT Inducer, Is Involved in Metastasis and Poor Prognosis in Colorectal Cancer
Investigators utilized ectopic Paired related homoeobox 1 (PRRX1)-expressing cell lines to analyze the function of PRRX1 in colorectal cancer (CRC). PRRX1 induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and the stem-like phenotype in CRC cells. [Br J Cancer] Abstract

Clinical-Pathologic Significance of Cancer Stem Cell Marker Expression in Familial Breast Cancers
Human breast cancer cells with a CD44⁺/CD24^-/low or ALDH1+ phenotype have been demonstrated to be enriched for cancer stem cells using in vitro and in vivo techniques. Researchers aimed to determine the association between CD44⁺/CD24^-/low and ALDH1 expression with clinical-pathologic tumor characteristics, tumor molecular subtype, and survival in a well characterized collection of familial breast cancer cases. [Breast Cancer Res Treat] Full Article

A Melanoma Brain Metastasis with a Donor-Patient Hybrid Genome following Bone Marrow Transplantation: First Evidence for Fusion in Human Cancer
Researchers carried out genotyping of a metastatic melanoma to the brain that arose following allogeneic bone-marrow transplantation (BMT), using forensic short tandem repeat length-polymorphisms to distinguish donor and patient genomes. All alleles in the donor and patient pre-BMT lymphocytes were found in tumor cells. The alleles showed disproportionate relative abundances in similar patterns throughout the tumor, indicating the tumor was initiated by a clonal fusion event. [PLoS One] Full Article | Press Release

Facilitates Chromatin Transcription Complex Is an Accelerator of Tumor Transformation and Potential Marker and Target of Aggressive Cancers
The authors discovered that facilitates chromatin transcription (FACT) is the target of a class of anticancer compounds and is not expressed in normal cells of adult mammalian tissues, except for undifferentiated and stem-like cells. Here, they showed that FACT expression is strongly associated with poorly differentiated aggressive cancers with low overall survival. [Cell Rep] Abstract | Full Article | Graphical Abstract

Visit our reviews page to see a complete list of reviews in the cancer stem cell research field.

Immunocore and Genentech Enter Strategic Alliance to Develop ImmTACs for Multiple Cancer Targets
Immunocore Limited, the Oxford-based biotechnology company developing novel biological drugs known as ImmTACs to treat cancer and viral disease, announced that it has entered into a research collaboration and licensing agreement with Genentech, a member of the Roche Group for the discovery and development of multiple novel cancer targets using Immunocore’s ImmTAC technology. [Immunocore Limited] Press Release

New wallchart from our sponsor: Mesenchymal Stem Cells (a Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology collaboration). Request your free copy.

Food and Drug Administration (United States)

Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (United States)

European Medicines Agency (European Union)

Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (United Kingdom)

Therapeutic Goods Administration (Australia)  

Visit our events page to see a complete list of events in the cancer stem cell community.

Postdoctoral Position – Molecular and Cellular Oncology (VIB Department for Molecular Biomedical Research, University of Ghent)

Director of Cell Processing Facility (S L Collins Associates, Inc.)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Cancer Biology and Stem Cell (University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston)

Postdoctoral Position – Breast Cancer/Stem Cell Biology (University of Cincinnati College of Medicine)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Stem Cells and Cancer (Tsinghua University)

PhD Studentship Opportunity – Tumor-Initiating Melanoma Cells (University of East Anglia)

Recruit Top Talent: Reach more than 50,000 potential candidates by posting your organization’s career opportunities on the Connexon Creative Job Board at no cost.