Updates sent to Twitter, May 3-9

Updates about CSC sent to Twitter during May 3-9:

Cancer stem cells in multiple myeloma, Nilanjan Ghosh, William Matsui, Cancer Lett 2009(May 8);277(1):1–7 [May 8][Author manuscript available in PMC May 8, 2009]: http://is.gd/xTor

Ontario Research Fund competition includes support for SC research [May 5]: http://tinyurl.com/cepnra

Malignant stem cells in childhood ALL: the debate continues! Blood 2009(Apr 30);113(18):4476-7; author reply 4477 [May 4]: http://is.gd/wJvf
[PubMed Citation].

Malignant stem cells in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia: the stem cell concept revisited [May 4]: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19270513

Leukemic stem cells in blast crisis CML

The CML stem cell: evolution of the progenitor by Scott A Stuart, Yosuke Minami and Jean YJ Wang, Cell Cycle 2009(May 1); 8(9): 1338-43 [Epub 2009 May 17][PubMed Citation][Full text PDF (Gratis OA)].

Last paragraph of the section of full text entitled CML Stem Cells and CML Therapy:

While the differences between CSCs and cells of the bulk tumor may prevent CSCs from being eliminated by therapies that target the bulk tumor, these differences may also provide unique therapeutic targets. Therefore, the identification of cancer stem cells may open the door to new targeted therapies as the differences between the cancer stem cell, the bulk tumor, and normal cells are realized. The observation that the leukemic GMPs in CML blast crisis largely depend on the β-catenin pathway for self-renewal point to this pathway as one attractive therapeutic target. Future studies with purified populations of HSCs and GMPs from patients with CML will be essential to identifying additional differences amenable to therapeutic intervention.

[CSCs = cancer stem cells; CML = chronic myeloid leukemia; HSCs = hematopoietic stem cells; GMPs = granulocyte-macrophage progenitors].

Found via Twitter. (Thanks to Alexey Bersenev).

Clinical trial on the natural history of solid organ cancer stem cells (SOCSC)

Studying Stem Cells in Patients With Primary or Metastatic Solid Tumors. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00892060

Study Type: Observational

Primary Objective:

To study and characterize, both quantitatively and qualitatively, solid organ cancer stem cells (SOCSC) from the time of tumor resection to the time of recurrence and/or metastasis using established phenotypic and functional markers of putative cancer stem cells from patients with primary or metastatic solid tumors.

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Estimated Enrollment: 676
Study Start Date: February 2009
Estimated Primary Completion Date: February 2014 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)

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Location: United States, Maryland

Principal Investigator:

Itzhak Avital, MD NCI - Surgery Branch

Found via Twitter (May 4, 2009).

Blog post about the complexity of CSC

Complexity of cancer stem cells by Alexey Bersenev, Hematopoiesis, May 6, 2009. [Twitter link to blog post] Final paragraph:

But not everything about CSC is so pessimistic. We know many good examples of successful targeting and eradication in tumors where the CSC model could be applied. We still have a lot of ways, other than surface molecules and signaling pathways, to target them. We are still developing a models to validate the concept. We can see clinical relevance and significance of CSC. Field is developing tremendously right now and a model is in the making.

… debating the existence of CSCs or their frequency is not a particularly useful exercise, and the scientific community would be well served to move beyond these issues. Rather, the more pertinent question is whether studying and targeting CSC is important for developing better forms of therapy. The answer to that query seems somewhat less clear.
Craig Jordan (U of Rochester)

Ontario Research Fund competition includes support for SC research

From the Programs & Funding page of the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation: Global Leadership Round in Genomics & Life Sciences (GL2) Competition Overview. Excerpts:

The Ontario Research Fund - Global Leadership Round in Genomics & Life Sciences (GL2) promotes research excellence in Ontario by supporting transformative, internationally significant research in genomics and gene-related areas of research. International collaboration is strongly encouraged for projects submitted to this competition.

The competition provides an opportunity for the province to fund truly transformative research and build on an area where Ontario researchers have demonstrated world-leading strength.

The Ontario Research Fund - Global Leadership Round in Genomics & Life Sciences competition focuses on scientific excellence and strategic value to Ontario, and targets leading-edge, large-scale research initiatives.

The minimum support provided by the GL2 to a project is $3.5 million.

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What’s eligible for funding?

The Ministry encourages collaborative, transformational projects across institutions from the following areas:

* Genomics and Genomics-related research (human health, plants and animals)
* Stem cell research
* Proteomics research

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When is the deadline for proposals?

The deadline for Notices of Intent is June 15, 2009.
The deadline for proposals is August 31, 2009.

Two recent videos about cancer stem cells

Two videos about CSC posted to YouTube on 2 May 2009 by the Cancer Institute of New Jersey:

1) Arnold J Levine and Robert A Weinberg discuss CSC (video: 37:53).

2) Cancer Stem Cells and Malignant Progression, Robert A Weinberg, Whitehead Institute, MIT (video: 1:04:06).

There are currently 31 of CancerInstNJ's videos on YouTube.

Updates sent to Twitter, April 26-May 2

Updates about CSC sent to Twitter during April 26-May 2:

The leukemic stem cell niche - current concepts and therapeutic opportunities. [May 1] See: http://www.webcitation.org/5gRcMZ5oy
[PubMed Abstract]

Use of CTIP2 and BMI1 co-labeling to distinguish tumor initiating cells in human head and neck tumors (OA) [April 30]: http://is.gd/vAmC
[Full text is openly accessible at PLoS ONE 2009(Apr 28); 4(4): e5367 (via Libre OA)].

PTEN, Stem Cells, and Cancer Stem Cells, Reginald Hill and Hong Wu, J Biol Chem 2009(May 1); 284(18): 11755-9 [April 29]: http://bit.ly/9RvBb

Discussion of CSC at the recent Wisconsin Stem Cell Symposium in Madison [April 28]: http://www.jsonline.com/features/health/43801012.html

Cancer stem cells and their niche (review), Hiroko Iwasaki and Toshio Suda, Cancer Science (Mar 30, 2009) [April 27]: http://is.gd/uZfr

Ability to continuously generate mammospheres in culture exhausted within five in vitro passages (OA) [April 26]: http://tinyurl.com/dn78z6
[Full text is openly accessible at PLoS ONE 2009(Apr 24); 4(4): e5329 (via Libre OA)].