Stem cell therapy attacks cancer by targeting unique tissue stiffness
Weian Zhao, associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences , and colleagues have programmed human bone marrow stem cells to identify the unique physical properties of cancerous tissue. They added a piece of "code" to their engineered cells so that they can detect distinctively stiff cancerous tissue, lock into it and activate therapeutics. In a study appearing in Science Translational Medicine , the researchers report they have effectively and safely employed this stem cell-targeting system in mice to treat metastatic breast cancer that had spread to the lung. They first transplanted the engineered stem cells to let them find and settle into the tumor site where they secreted enzymes called cytosine deaminase. The mice were then administered an inactive chemotherapy called prodrug 5-f lurocytosine, which was triggered into action by the tumor site enzymes. Zhao said his team specifically focused on metastatic cancer, which comes when the disease spreads to other part...