
A novel bioengineered treatment that has shown promise in targeting pancreatic cancer without causing damage to healthy noncancer cells has been developed by research scientists from Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston. They presented their findings at the 95th annual Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons.
According to author Claudius Conrad, MD, PhD, the bioengineered construct used in the treatment is made of engineered, bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells and a gene product toxic to tumor growth that is expressed when the tumor actively recruits the stem cells.
Pancreatic cancer is a highly fatal disease. Approximately 43,000 new cases are diag-nosed each year in the United States, and 35,000 people die from the disease, according to the National Cancer Institute. "The prognosis of advanced pancreatic cancer is so devastating that even a small effect on prolongation and quality of life would be tremendous outcome for
the patient," Dr. Conrad said.
Cancer cells need stem cells to sustain their rapid growth. The bioengineered construct, which the researchers named "Trojan Horse" mesenchymal stem cells, confuses the cancer cell to actively recruit it and then proceeds to produce a potent toxic gene product by using signals that tumor sends to supply itself with new blood vessels.
This latest finding is still in the early stages of development, having been tested in labor-atory animals. However, the results are promising and suggest a way of killing cancer cells with minimal side effects. The Massachusetts General Hospital research team led by Dr. Conrad is working with researchers at Harvard and the University of Munich to develop protocols for further study, which include producing the "Trojan Horse" construct and, eventually, applying for Food and Drug Administration review.
Yves Hüsemann, PhD; Hanno Niess, MD; Irene von Lüttichau, MD, PhD; Ralf Huss, MD, PhD; Christian Bauer, MD, PhD; Karl-Walter Jauch, MD, PhD; Christoph Klein, MD, PhD; Christiane Bruns, MD, PhD; and Peter Nelson, MD, PhD, also participated in this study.
Source: Newswise
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