“Latest Stem Cells News”

Although a growing number of people today are stricken with cancer – the leading cause of death in France since 2004 – their risk of succumbing to this disease is dropping. Nationwide mortality rates continue to vary, most notably on a regional level, as was demonstrated in the distinguished Atlas de la mortalité par cancer en France metropolitaine [Atlas of cancer death in mainland France (excluding overseas territories)], published on January 28. On a generalized basis, the numbers for Northern and Central France clearly point to hypermortality while death rates in the southern portion of the country were lower than the national average.

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A new drug combination tested in mice may target the cells responsible for driving some pancreatic tumors. The combination of gemcitabine and the experimental drug tigatuzumab eliminated populations of cancer stem cells and reduced tumor growth in a mouse model of pancreatic cancer, researchers from the Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center reported at the AACR annual meeting.

The results provide a rationale for testing the promising combination in patients with this deadly disease, Dr. Rajesh Kumar NV and his colleagues concluded.

Cancer stem cells are thought to self renew while giving rise to tumors, and they may resist conventional treatments. The researchers found that human pancreatic cancer stem cells overexpress a protein called death receptor-5 (DR-5), which is involved in programmed cell death (apoptosis). The protein is also the target of tigatuzumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody also known as CS-1008.

To evaluate the drug’s effects on these important cells, mice were given tigatuzumab alone, gemcitabine alone, or a combination. Although gemcitabine reduced tumor size, it increased levels of pancreatic cancer stem cells (as defined by the protein markers ALDH, CD24, and CD44), and all of the tumors recurred. The combination treatment, however, led to long-term remissions in half of the treated mice.

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