“Latest Stem Cells News”

An experimental drug currently being tested against breast and lung cancer shows promise in fighting the brain cancer glioblastoma and prostate cancer, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found in two preclinical studies.

The drug’s actions, observed in isolated human cells in one trial and in rodents in the other, are especially encouraging because they attacked not only the bulk of the tumor cells but also the rare cancer stem cells that are believed to be responsible for most of a cancer’s growth, said Dr. Jerry Shay, professor of cell biology and a senior co-author of both papers. The glioblastoma study appears in the January issue of Clinical Cancer Research. The prostate cancer study is available online in the International Journal of Cancer.

Scientists at the University of California have found a potential new use for human embryonic stem cells: helping cancer patients recover the cognitive function lost when their brains are treated with radiation.

People with tumors in their head or neck often undergo radiation therapy after the cancer is surgically removed. Radiation helps kill malignant cells left behind. But it also can debilitate the hippocampus, the brain region responsible for learning, memory and processing of spatial information.

The researchers wondered whether embryonic stem cells could pick up the slack.

So they radiated the heads of 18 rats. Two days later, six of those rats got two injections of human embryonic stem cells directly into the hippocampus. After four months, the researchers measured the rats’ cognitive abilities. They placed the rats in an arena with two Lego blocks and let them explore. When they were done, the researchers took the rats out of the arena and moved one block. Five minutes later, the rats went back in.

All of the animals studied both of the blocks, but the rats that were treated with stem cells spent far more time nosing around the one that had been moved. And the radiated rats that didn’t get stem cells lost half of their cognitive function, according to the study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The results suggest that embryonic stem cells could spare cancer patients much of the short-term memory loss from cranial radiation.

from http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-tc-nw-stem-cells-1113-1114nov16,0,4526555.story

breastcancer.org

Stem Cell Research Provides Help for Breast Reconstruction

Irene MacKenzie had a lumpectomy for her early stage breast cancer leaving her with a hollow in her breast. The lumpectomy took care of the cancer, but what about her breast? Well, Irene was the first person in Britain to reap the benefits of Stem Cell research using Adult Stem Cells for breast reconstruction.

Feeling Self-Conscious After the Lumpectomy

After the lumpectomy, Irene didn’t feel good about the way her breast looked. She looked for options. A friend referred her to Eva Weiler-Mithoff who is a consultant plastic surgeon at Glasgow Royal Infirmary. Dr. Weiler-Mithoff who had been approached with a new Adult Stem Cell process asked if Irene would be interested in becoming the first woman in Britain to receive this new stem cell treatment for breasts. Irene didn’t hesitate and said “YES!”

British team pioneers reconstruction technique using enriched tissue

A remarkable reconstruction technique is being trialled by British surgeons, who are harvesting stem-cell-enriched fat from women’s bodies to plug the dip often left by breast cancer operations.
The procedure appears to restore the softness and suppleness of breast tissues, undoing the damage frequently caused by lumpectomy and radiotherapy. Early signs indicate that it also eases the considerable pain with which patients are often left after treatment.

More than 31,000 women a year in Britain with early-stage breast cancer undergo operations in which just the lump and a healthy margin of tissue around it are removed. The cavity left in the breast following surgery can vary from a dimple to a mini-crater, but the dip invariably becomes more pronounced following radiotherapy, which most patients need. Irradiation damages the blood supply to the breast and shrinks and toughens overlying skin so that it sticks to the chest wall. Nerves can get trapped in the resulting scar tissue, causing constant discomfort. Although some surgeons have had short-term success with simple fat transfers – liposuctioning fat from elsewhere and injecting it into the breast hollow – the blob of fat struggles to get a decent blood supply.