Sessions on CSC Therapeutics at AACR10

There were two poster sessions on Cancer Stem Cell Therapeutics at the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). The sessions, Cancer Stem Cell Therapeutics 1 and Cancer Stem Cell Therapeutics 2, took place on the morning and afternoon of April 20, 2010 [FriendFeed entry].

Two posters presented in the 2nd session have been highlighted in a news release. See: Alchemia’s HyACT Technology Enhances the Killing of Cancer Stem Cell Populations in Breast and Colorectal Cancer, Business Wire, April 20, 2010 [FriendFeed entry]. One of these is Poster #4293: Evaluation of activated CD44 as a biological target in the eradication of breast cancer stem cells, by Vera J Evtimov and Tracey J Brown [Presentation Abstract]. The other is Poster #4278: HA-Irinotecan targeting of activated CD44 is an effective therapy for the eradication of putative colon cancer stem cells [Presentation Abstract].

CSC news links 2010-04-18

For links to recent news items, visit these [Twitter] or [FriendFeed] pages. Examples of a few news items that have received attention:

• Split ends in CML: divergent roles of Hes1 by Catriona Jamieson, Blood 2010(Apr 8); 115(14): 2726-7 [FriendFeed entry][Connotea bookmark][PubMed citation][Full text PDF]. A comment on: Hes1 immortalizes committed progenitors and plays a role in blast crisis transition in chronic myelogenous leukemia by Fumio Nakahara and 13 co-authors, Blood 2010(Apr 8); 115(14): 2872-81. [Epub 2009(Oct 27)][PubMed citation].


• Metabolism and the leukemic stem cell by Omar Abdel-Wahab and Ross L Levine, J Exp Med 2010(Apr 12); 207(4): 677-80 [Epub 2010(Apr 5)][FriendFeed entry][ResearchGATE entry][CiteULike entry][Connotea bookmark][PubMed citation][Full text].


• A hypoxic niche regulates glioblastoma stem cells through hypoxia inducible factor 2alpha by Sascha Seidel and 13 co-authors, including Till Acker, Brain 2010(Apr); 133(Pt 4): 983-95 [FriendFeed entry][ResearchGATE entry][Connotea bookmark][PubMed citation].

MicroRNA therapy could be a powerful tool to correct the CSC dysregulation?

Medical Hypothesis: No small matter: microRNAs - key regulators of cancer stem cells by Qing Ji, David Karnak, Ping Hao, Rongquan Wang and Liang Xu, Int J Clin Exp Med 2010(Mar 12); 3(1): 84-7 [FriendFeed entry][Connotea bookmark][Full text via PMC]. PubMed Abstract:

Emerging evidence demonstrates that both tumor suppressor and oncogenic miRNAs play an essential role in stem cell self-renewal and differentiation by negatively regulating the expression of certain key genes in stem cells. It seems logical that they may also be critical players in cancer stem cells. Though small in size, miRNAs play a key role in the epigenetic regulation of cancer stem cells. Specifically, the imbalance of oncogenic vs. tumor suppressor miRNAs may lead to dysregulation of cancer stem cells, thus causing excessive self-renewal and survival of cancer stem cells, and resistance to chemo/radiotherapy. We postulate that restoring the balance of miRNAs will correct this dysregulation via the direct and simultaneous modulation of downstream stem cell pathways involved in cancer stem cell self-renewal and/or differentiation. The resultant restoration of key regulatory pathways could improve therapeutic response. Restoring tumor suppressor miRNAs and/or inhibiting oncogenic miRNAs may provide a novel molecular therapy for human cancers, potentially via modulating cancer stem cells.

CSC news roundup 2010-04-11

• Cancer Stem Cells: Back to Darwin? (review) [FriendFeed entry][Connotea bookmark][PubMed citation] http://bit.ly/csTyxT


• Cancer stem/progenitor cells are highly enriched in CD133+CD44+ population in hepatocellular carcinoma [FriendFeed entry][PubMed citation] http://bit.ly/bwUz7C


• The nuclear receptor tailless induces long-term neural stem cell expansion and brain tumor initiation [FriendFeed entry][News release][PubMed citation] http://bit.ly/cCjVZL


• Hedgehog Signaling and Cancer Stem Cells in Hematopoietic Cell Malignancies (USPTO Application) [FriendFeed entry] http://bit.ly/bSbbTF


• (WO2010037134) Multi-stage stem cell carcinogenesis [FriendFeed entry][WIPO entry] http://bit.ly/cnksOu


• (WO2010037041) Frizzled-binding agents and uses thereof (to target CSC ) [FriendFeed entry] http://bit.ly/aaSJNI


• Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) in Tumor-Initiating Cells and Its Clinical Implications in Breast Cancer (review) [FriendFeed entry][Connotea bookmark][PubMed citation] http://bit.ly/cEcBrJ


• Ovarian cancer stem-like side-population cells are tumourigenic and chemoresistant [FriendFeed entry][Connotea bookmark][PubMed citation] http://bit.ly/cvoGt1


• Emerging strategies for the identification and targeting of cancer stem cells (review) [FriendFeed entry][PubMed citation] http://bit.ly/bGOGfd


• Stem cells in human breast cancer (OA review) [FriendFeed entry][ResearchGATE entry][PubMed citation] http://bit.ly/aF9E8U


• Side-population cells in luminal-type breast cancer have tumour-initiating cell properties, and are regulated by HER2 expression and signalling [FriendFeed entry][PubMed citation] http://bit.ly/92VkLU


• Hypoxia inducible factors in cancer stem cells (minireview) [FriendFeed entry][PubMed citation] http://bit.ly/bGBdxN


• Classic view of cancer challenged by new theory (about the CSC model) [FriendFeed entry] http://bit.ly/decqFe


• New hope in the horizon: cancer stems cells (OA review) [FriendFeed entry][PubGet entry][Full text PDF] http://bit.ly/9HLmV0

CFI practices called “world’s best’’

The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) is one of the Canadian funding agencies that is a Member of the Cancer Stem Cell Consortium (CSCC). According to a news release from the CFI, dated March 24, 2010, CFI’s Funding Agreement with the Government of Canada required an overall performance evaluation and value-for-money audit (OPEA). Excerpt from the news release: "KPMG conducted an overall performance evaluation and value-for-money audit of the CFI and an international panel of seven experts in global research and research funding reviewed the findings and produced an independent report".

The news release is entitled: Canada Foundation for Innovation practices called “world’s best’’. The full OPEA, performed by KPMG in 2009, as well as the International Review Panel Report, are available via: OPEA Reports and Summary.